As new ways to power our homes, workplaces and transport are developed, there will be opportunities for sustainable, healthier economic growth. But there will also be costs for firms, workers and households. To date, climate action has faced challenges from the people through protests and referenda, but has also been driven by public support and activism.

How can we ensure the net-zero transition is an inclusive one, so that crucial public support can be maintained and built?

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Speakers

Liam F Beiser-McGrath is an assistant professor in International Social and Public Policy in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. They are also the organiser of EPG Online, an online seminar series covering Environmental Politics and Governance. Their research primarily focuses on the political economy of climate change, using experimental research designs and machine learning. Current research projects focus on: i) the impact of energy insecurity upon climate, energy, and social policy preferences, ii) how economic insecurity and employment risks affect environmental concern, and iii) public support for carbon pricing schemes.

Chris Skidmore has been the MP for Kingswood since 2010. He has served in five government departments between 2015 and 2020, including as Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation twice between 2018 and 2020. In 2019, he was appointed Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, attending Cabinet, during which time he signed the UK's commitment to Net Zero by 2050 into law and helped secure the UK Presidency of COP26. Most recently, he served as the Chair of the Government's Independent Net Zero Review, and published the 340-page 'Mission Zero' report in January 2023. He is currently Chair of the All Party Group on the Environment and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Rain Newton-Smith is the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Before taking up the role, she was Managing Director, Strategy and Policy, Sustainability and ESG at Barclays. Previously she was chief economist at the CBI, representing British businesses focusing on the UK economic outlook and climate change. She has also worked as head of emerging markets at Oxford Economics where she managed a large team of economists and was the lead expert on China. Earlier, she led teams at the Bank of England including the international forecast team for the Monetary Policy Committee and a team with responsibility for developing a risk assessment framework for the UK financial system.

Anna Valero is a distinguished policy fellow at CEP, Deputy Director of the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID) and an Associate of the Grantham Research Institute. She is also a member of the Steering Group of the Resolution Foundation-CEP Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. She has held a number of advisory roles for the UK government, and is currently a member of the Economic Advisory Council which advises the Chancellor of the Exchequer on economic policy to help grow the economy and the Green Jobs Delivery group. Her research is focused on the drivers of productivity and innovation, and realising opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth in the Net Zero Transition.

Elizabeth Robinson (chair) is the director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE. She is an environmental economist whose research focuses on climate change and health, oriented particularly around food security and food systems, and the health co-benefits of mitigation. From 2004 to 2009, she was the coordinating lead author for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, sub-Saharan Africa. She was on the UK Defra Economic Advisory Panel for five years; and from 2019 to 2020, Specialist Advisor to the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health, and Environment. She is currently Working Group 1 lead for the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

Registration

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More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: People and Change running from Monday 12 to Saturday 17 June 2023, with a series of events exploring how change affects people and how people effect change. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 15 May.

The Department of Social Policy is an internationally recognised centre of research and teaching in social and public policy. From its foundation in 1912 it has carried out cutting edge research on core social problems, and helped to develop policy solutions.

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