Economics, ethics, and the role of the state in climate action

In an increasingly fragmented global order, new forms of geopolitical and economic division are reshaping the world economy. Long‑standing trade partnerships face growing pressure, and rising tensions threaten to unwind decades of cooperation

As companies in high-emitting sectors move from setting net zero targets to implementing detailed transition plans, investors are demanding greater transparency and fully quantified strategies.

In 2024, two billion people went to vote – and populism won big. Donald Trump returned to the White House. Marine Le Pen surged in France. Reform UK became Britain’s most successful far-right party in modern history. Across the West, authoritarian populists now govern one-quarter of the world’s democracies. But is this peak populism – or the populists’ tipping point?

This talk will examine housing and work, sleep and sociality, as key aspects of everyday life where strategies to create more equitable and sustainable access to cooling must focus.

The Trump Administration has closed the world’s largest bilateral aid programme, USAID and poured scorn on its past effectiveness. Other donors are also cutting their aid programmes at the same time as there is a growing chorus of concern around aid effectiveness. It has created ‘’ a perfect storm” in the world of development finance. Can there be a happy ending or is development another casualty of Trump’s new global disorder?