Elizabeth J Z Robinson

Liz is an environmental economist, whose policy-relevant research addresses the design of policies and institutions to reduce climate change emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect the environment. Much of her work is at the nexus of climate, health, and the environment, mainly around how climate change is affecting food security and nutrition, and worker health. Much of her work is in low and middle-income countries, where she has spent considerable time living and undertaking research.

She was on the UK Defra Economic Advisory Panel from 2012-2017; was Specialist Advisor to the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health, and Environment, 2019 to 2020; Working Group One lead for the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change from 2016 to 2024; and Chair of the Economics Advisory Group for CCRA4 for the UK’s Climate Change Committee, 2024 to 2026. She is currently on the Scientific Committee of the Regenerative Society Foundation; an IPCC AR7 WG III Lead Author for Chapter 4, Sustainable Development and Mitigation; a Global Advisory Council member for Resource Resolutions; and a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Solar Radiation Modification Working Group.

Liz previously worked at the University of Reading; at the University of Oxford as a Lecturer in the economics department and Tutorial Fellow at St Hugh's College; at the Boston Consulting Group, the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich. She has a first class degree in Engineering, Economics, and Management from Oxford University, and a PhD in Applied Economics from Stanford University.

Awards

• American Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Honourable Mention (second best Agricultural Economics PhD in the US, 1997).
• Maurice Lubbock Prize, awarded to top student in Engineering, Economics, and Management (EEM) at University of Oxford, 1990; Deloitte Prize for Economics, EEM (shared), 1990; Institute of Production Engineers/Unipart Industries Prize, EEM, 1990.

Current projects

Grantham Research Institute Climate Food (In)security Lab

Grants

iD Alert EU

Working papers

Improving the resilience of the UK labour force in a 1.5°C world

Media

28 March 2024, Easter Egg-flation: Let’s unwrap it -- In this BBC newscast, Professor Liz Robinson speaks on climate change and the cost of cocoa, with Adam Fleming, Faisal Islam (BBC), Anna Mann (Fairtrade Foundation)

In this Real Zero podcast Professor Liz Robinson discusses the complex relationship between food systems, climate change, and inequality. The Real Zero podcast is hosted by Dr. Daniel Grant and Professor Hugh Montgomery.

In this article, Professor Liz Robinson notes that the UK's transport and housing are not designed for "Mediterranean" temperatures, making it harder for people to get to work or function effectively while there.