Marta Vicarelli

Marta Vicarelli is Assistant Professor (Education) in Environmental Economics and Policy in the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Her research examines the economic dimensions of climate risk, adaptation, and mitigation. She focuses on: (i) the socio-economic impacts of climate variability and climate change; (ii) the economics of Nature-based Solutions for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation; (iii) climate resilience and green recovery strategies; and (iv) renewable energy policy. Her work integrates environmental economics, risk analysis, and climate science to inform evidence-based policy design.

Before joining LSE, she held competitively awarded research fellowships and academic appointments at leading institutions. She was a Research Fellow at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies, where she investigated observed impacts of climate change and adaptation responses. She was awarded the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowship by the Harvard University Sustainability Science Program, which included a residential fellowship at Harvard University’s Center for International Development. She subsequently served as Postdoctoral Fellow at the Yale University Climate and Energy Institute, focusing on the socio-economic impacts of climate change and extreme weather. She also held a joint appointment as Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with affiliations in the Department of Economics and the School of Public Policy.

She is a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability). Her work has been recognised through awards, including the Peccei Fellowship from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) for research on integrating inter-annual climate variability forecasts into weather-indexed crop insurance. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC Foundation) and serves on the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Earth and Sustainability Pan-Campus Advisory Council.

Her teaching areas include econometrics, environmental and resources economics, environmental economic valuation, environmental economics and policy analysis.

She holds a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the École Normale Supérieure (Paris), a Master’s in Environmental Economics from École Polytechnique, and a Master of International Affairs and Ph.D. in Sustainable Development from Columbia University.

Marta's research investigates anthropogenic environmental changes and explores sustainable development solutions. The impacts of climate change and the design of adaptation and mitigation strategies have been her primary research focus. Her interest in these urgent issues has guided not only her research, but also her teaching and service.

The main themes of investigation in Marta's current research portfolio include the analysis of climate impacts on physical and biological systems; the socio-economic impacts of climate change and their equity implications; the resilience strategies adopted to mitigate climate change impacts; the benefits of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in mitigating disaster risk and supporting climate adaptation; and the economic performance of sustainable infrastructure both in terms of equity and efficiency outcomes.

Another focus of her research is studying green socio-economic development and sustainable growth strategies. In relation to this topic, she also investigates how renewable energy policy instruments can mitigate climate change by contributing to the renewable energy transition and to sustainable growth.

Selected publications

Vicarelli, Marta,  Anamaria Georgescu*, and Karen Sudmeier-Rieux.  "Cost-benefit and equity analysis of nature-based solutions in Haiti, India, Indonesia and Uganda." Nature-Based Solutions 6 (2024): 100196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100196

Vicarelli, Marta, Karen Sudmeier-Rieux, Ali Alsadadi*, Aryen Shrestha*, Simon Schutze*, Michael Kang*, Madeline Leue*, David Wasielewski*, Jaroslav Mysiak (2024) “On the cost-effectiveness of Nature-based Solutions for reducing disaster risk”  Science of the Total Environment (2024): 174524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174524 -- Scholarworks access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/55066

Aguilar Arturo and Marta Vicarelli (2022) "El Niño and children: Medium-term effects of early-life weather shocks on cognitive and health outcomes", World Development, Volume 150, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105690 (equal co-authorship, alphabetical order)

Sudmeier-Rieux, K., Arce-Mojica,T., Boehmer, H.J., Doswald, N., Emerton, L., Friess, D.A., Galvin, S., Hagenlocher, M., James, H., Laban, P., Lacambra, C., Lange, W., McAdoo, B.G., Moos, C., Mysiak, J., Narvaez, L., Nehren, U., Peduzzi, P1., Renaud, F.G., Sandholz, S., Schreyers, L., Sebesvari, Z., Tom, T., Triyanti, A., van Eijk, P., van Staveren, M., Vicarelli, M., Walz, Y. (2021) "Scientific evidence for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction." Nature Sustainability: 1-8. (Sudmeier-Rieux was corresponding author; equal co-authorship for all listed co-authors in alphabetical order).

Rosenzweig, C., D. Karoly, M. Vicarelli, P. Neofotis, Q. Wu, G. Casassa, A. Menzel, T.L. Root, N. Estrella, B. Seguin, P. Tryjanowski, C. Liu, S. Rawlins, and A. Imeson. (2008). “Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change.” Nature, 453, 353-357.

• GY212 Sustainable Development
• GY455 Economic Appraisal and Valuation

Awards and recognitions

• 2023-2024 ADVANCE Fellowship, University of Massachusetts Amherst – Invited to join an interdisciplinary faculty network to support research and programming focused on equity.
• 2021 PEDRR Champion Award - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – Awarded for the first global scientific assessment of cost-effectiveness of Nature-based Solution for disaster risk reduction.
• 2008 Best Publication Award, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies – Honored for co-authoring "Attributing Physical and Biological Impacts to Anthropogenic Climate Change" published in Nature (2008)
• 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (shared) - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Contributing author to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.