Asha is a Senior Policy Advisor in Emissions Trading and Linking for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) in the UK Government
Asha Niall, MPP
I joined the MPP after starting my career working in strategic emergency management policy in the Victorian Government in Australia. In one of my roles I worked on introducing rehabilitation and closure requirements for coal mines following a major mine fire disaster that had resulted from a catastrophic regulatory and coordination failure by the government. I was keen to learn more about the way government operates to manage and solve problems and apply it to my future work.
My undergraduate degree had focused on applying systems thinking to complex environmental problems, so from an academic perspective I thought I had a good grasp of how difficult it could be to drive change and achieve good outcomes. Working in government opened my eyes to what is actually required to drive reform in reality. I was drawn to the LSE MPP because of its focus on public management, and I was particularly interested in approaches to coordinate, adapt and share information to facilitate government management of, and response to, major shocks.
I spent my time at LSE learning how to analyse and assess government success and failure, how to anticipate and manage risk, and how governance can catalyse or be a barrier to reform. The frameworks taught as part of the 'Public Management' and 'Designing and Managing Change in the Public Sector' courses were formative for me and have been particularly instrumental in my post-MPP work.
After finishing the MPP, I joined Ofgem (the UK energy regulator), where I worked on a financial regulatory framework for energy retailers in response to the wholesale gas crisis. I was excited by this, as it drew together many things I’d learned at LSE including the role of regulation in managing risk, the interaction of public and private sector in essential public service delivery, and an assessment of principles- or rules-based regulation.
I’m now working for the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero on the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, where I draw consistently on the economic and quantitative skills developed as part of the MPP. I have long been interested in how carbon markets drive decarbonisation, and I feel very lucky to be working in such a role, so I am grateful my time at LSE has provided me with such a strong foundation to pursue this work.