Ep 62: Sam Fankhauser, Director, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (GRI)
Today's guest is Sam Fankhauser, Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. GRI was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science to create a world-leading center for policy relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development, and political economy. I was excited for this discussion because Sam is not only deep in economics and climate change and the impact of climate change on the global economy, but also he comes at it from a very European perspective as he not only lives in the UK but his thought about the impacts of climate change and been involved at a high level in the UK government and so on in climate change polity and initiatives. We have a great discussion today diving deep into what motivates Sam to do the work that he does, how his views on climate change have evolved since he entered the space many years ago to today, but also big picture talk about all the different levers that we have and what needs to change and how it needs to change and what we can do to help it, and what some of the headwinds are. To be honest, it's similar topics that we cover in every episode, but given that each guest perspective is so different, we have wildly different discussions and today does not disappoint in that regard. Let's get him out here. Sam Fankhauser, welcome to the show!
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is Professor Sam Fankhauser, Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Director of the ESRC-funded Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, both at The London School of Economics and Political Science.
He is also an Associate Director at economics consultancy Vivid Economics and a Non-Executive Director of CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution.
Previously, Sam worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility. From 2008 to 2016 he was a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change.
In today’s episode, we cover:
- Overview of Grantham Research Institute
- Nature of the research they do
- 'When and why Sam came to care about the environment'
- How urgent Sam thinks the problem is
- How settled is the science?
- 'Some causes for optimism
- Public perception in US vs Europe
- Committee on Climate Change (CCC)
- 'Free markets vs regulation
- 'Should we price carbon?
- The inequity of climate change
- Where Sam would allocate a big pot of money to maximize its impact in the climate fight
- Sam’s advice for others looking to find their lane
Links to topics discussed in this episode:
- Grantham Institute: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/
- Committee on Climate Change: https://www.theccc.org.uk/
- Negative emissions technologies: https://qz.com/1416481/the-ultimate-guide-to-negative-emission-technologies/
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant