‘Regulated carbon markets are worth a trillion dollars a year and cover 25% of global emissions — they are raising climate ambition worldwide’
economic strategies underpinning environmental action:
What is the core of your research?
I’m an environmental economist. My work focuses on policies that create incentives and mobilise finance to tackle climate change, protect forests and restore natural ecosystems as part of climate solutions.
Which aspects of the economics of land-use change are becoming key as the environmental crisis grows?
It is self-evident, yet remarkable to what extent land-use decisions respond to economic incentives — when the prices of agricultural commodities increase, people plant more crops. When the prices of timber and forest products rise, people shift to planting and tending more trees. This shows there is a role for policies and incentives to move the needle in terms of the choices farmers make. The data shows us how this plays out worldwide. It’s also striking how large the reaction can be — this creates a significant opportunity for well-designed policy to make a difference.
The flipside is, policies which don’t take this into account can potentially create unintended consequences in terms of impacts on land-use patterns and nature.
Given this backdrop, which policies have successfully managed land-use change?
A recent example also gives us a powerful reason to think of land-use change as a climate solution. Just in the past year, the Brazilian government has reduced deforestation in the Amazon by over 50% — this has made Brazil a leader in reducing climate-related emissions. No other country even comes close in terms of
