Conference Agenda

Robin Burgess, London School of Economics, UK

Innovation is going to be critical not only to confronting climate change but also for keeping humans on a path towards greater prosperity. Prof. Burgess will discuss three areas of research and policy where innovation is playing a central role and transforming how we think about environmental economics and environmental policy. The first is in innovation and diffusion of clean energy. Here the keynote will focus on how China became the global leader as regards patenting, production and trade in solar products. Also on what the barriers to diffusion of clean energy across the world might be. The second area is social protection. Here innovations in the design of transfer programs to get people out of poverty traps is leading to insights on how we can make vulnerable populations across the world more resilient to climate change. As with clean energy a key challenge will be how we scale and diffuse these programs as climate change unfolds. The third area is natural capital. Here innovations in measurement and monitoring have transformed our ability to track land use. Prof. Burgess will be talking about how we can harness these innovations to strike a better balance between the need to protect the natural environment, bend the global emissions curve and achieve economic growth.