Report: 1.5°C – dead or alive? The risks to transformational change from reaching and breaching the Paris Agreement goal
I was lead author of a report from IPPR and Chatham House. It’s part of the Cohort 2040 project. It argues that the historical failure to sufficiently tackle the climate and ecological crisis could create consequences that challenge the ability of societies to tackle the root causes of this crisis. This is a doom loop:…
The Cohort 2040 Challenge (IPPR)
This report – the first of the Cohort 2040 project and published with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) – explores the huge challenge that emerging leaders of the millennial and younger generations could soon inherit. It argues they will have to be better prepared to continue the struggle for a more sustainable, equitable…
Making change: What works? (IPPR)
Movements change the world. Throughout history, loosely organised networks of individuals and organisations have sought changes to societies – and won. From the abolitionist struggle and campaigns for voting rights to #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, the impact of movements can be seen everywhere. Over the last year, IPPR and the Runnymede Trust have sought to understand…
Fairness and opportunity: A people-powered plan for the green transition (IPPR)
The final report of our Environmental Justice Commission The Environmental Justice Commission was established in May 2019 in recognition that action to address the accelerating climate and nature emergencies can be about more than staving off the worst; it can be about imagining a better world which we can build together. To realise this vision…
Change only through crisis? Reflections on strategies for paradigm shift in an age of coronavirus and environmental breakdown (Forum for a New Economy)
1st December 2020 The emergency measures undertaken in response to the COIVD-19 pandemic constitute an unprecedented break from the norms and practice of the prevailing political-economic paradigm—the predominant set of economic theory, policies and narratives. Public health has always been a major driver of changes in political economy because it is a systems-focused approach, providing…
A new politics for the era of environmental breakdown (IPPR)
7th October 2020 Environmental breakdown is accelerating and poses an unprecedented threat to our political system. This system is a key enabler of environmental breakdown, the major drivers of which include chronic short-termism, a failure to recognise and act on systemic problems, and a failure to integrate environmental concerns throughout policy. This challenge comes at…
We are not ready: Policymaking in the age of environmental breakdown – Final report (IPPR)
24th June 2020 Environmental breakdown is the defining challenge of our time. This is the final report of a major research programme – responding to environmental breakdown – investigating the implications of the global environmental crisis for politics and policymaking. A new approach to policymaking is needed. In response, this paper defines overall conditions for…
The Gradual Encroachment of Ideas: Lessons from the paradigm shift to embedded liberalism (Forum for a New Economy)
5th May 2020 Elements of the shift to embedded liberalism are of interest for those seeking to understand how political-economic paradigms shift or to precipitate such a shift today. Two policy programmes were particularly important: structural reform of the global financial system, manifest in the creation of the Bretton Woods system; and a shift in…
Our responsibility: A new model of international cooperation for the era of environmental breakdown (IPPR)
22nd November 2019 Environmental breakdown is accelerating and poses an unprecedented threat to international cooperation. A new positive-sum model of international cooperation is needed, which should seek to realise a more sustainable, just and prepared world. This necessarily requires communities and countries to better recognise their cumulative contribution to environmental breakdown, and their current capability…
Inheriting the Earth? The unprecedented challenge of environmental breakdown for younger generations (IPPR)
17th September 2019 Younger generations, in addition to being economically worse off than their parents, face a future of unprecedented environmental breakdown. They will disproportionately bear the burden of having to rapidly transform economic systems in order to decelerate environmental breakdown while withstanding its increasingly destabilising consequences; an unprecedented challenge. Leaders in older generations are failing…
A Blueprint for Europe’s Just Transition (Europe for a Green New Deal)
1st September 2019 I was a contributor to a major report from Europe for a Green New Deal on how to realise a sustainable and just green new deal for Europe.
The Times They Are A-Changing? Exploring the potential shift away from the neoliberal political-economic paradigm (Forum for a New Economy)
5th August 2019 Modern economic history can be roughly split into different eras in which certain sets of ideas dominate politics and policy-making. This paper – co-authored with Laurie Macfarlane and Michael Jacobs – seeks to understand if a shift in the ‘political- economic paradigm’ is currently under way by inspecting the state of debates…
Facing the crisis: Rethinking economics for the age of environmental breakdown (IPPR)
1st August 2019 The current economic model in countries around the world drives environmental breakdown, and many of its underpinning assumptions, policies and narratives act as barriers to change. A new model is needed to rapidly create societies that are more sustainable, just and prepared: bringing human activity to within environmentally sustainable limits while narrowing…
This is a crisis: Facing up to the age of environmental breakdown (IPPR)
12th February 2019 Mainstream political and policy debates have failed to recognise that human impacts on the environment have reached a critical stage, potentially eroding the conditions upon which socioeconomic stability is possible. The historical disregard of environmental considerations in most areas of policy has been a catastrophic mistake. In response, this IPPR paper – the…
Greener hospitals, healthier communities (UK Health Alliance on Climate Change)
15th October 2018 The NHS can drive positive economic, social and environmental outcomes through changing how it employs, procures, and uses land and other assets, as well as how it travels and burns carbon. This potential is particularly high at a local level where hospitals and other healthcare sites act as ‘anchor institutions’ – by…
Moving Beyond the Air Quality Crisis (UK Health Alliance on Climate Change)
5th October 2018 This report from the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change explored the causes of the air quality health problem in the UK and provided a comprehensive strategy for overcoming it.
The Digital Commonwealth: From private enclosure to collective benefit (IPPR)
7th September 2018 Digital technology is delivering a huge range of benefits to businesses, citizens and wider society. Platforms – online applications that intermediate between the provider of a service and its users – have unlocked many of these benefits by sorting and connecting an enormous range of services and products, both online and off.…
Prosperity and justice: A plan for the new economy – IPPR Commission on Economic Justice final report
5th September 2018 Established in autumn 2016 in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, the aim of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice was to examine the challenges facing the UK economy and to recommend proposals for reform. Commissioners come from across the economy and society and from different political viewpoints,…
Paradigm Shifts in Economic Theory and Policy (Intereconomics)
3rd July 2018 This paper, co-authored with Michael Jacobs, seeks to understand the processes of paradigm shifts in economic ideas and policy. We begin with an explanation of the concept of a “politico-economic paradigm”, with reference to the theory and history of the two paradigm shifts occurring in the 20th century. We then examine how…
Air pollution and your health: How bad is it and what can you do? (UK Health Alliance on Climate Change)
5th June 2018 This UK Health Alliance on Climate Change paper provides a guide to the air pollution problem in the UK, its health effects, and the actions needed to tackle it.
Health and sustainability
1st June 2018 This article, co-authored with Dr Jenny Isherwood and published in the Future Healthcare Journal, explores the interdependence between healthcare and sustainability: https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/futurehosp/5/2/84.2
The Air Pollution and Health Benefits of the UK Climate Change Act (UK Health Alliance on Climate Change)
5th April 2018 This briefing paper summarises the results of a major study into the improvements to UK air quality from meeting the Climate Change Act commitments. These results quantify the significant opportunities that exist for improving public health through the co-ordination of policies to mitigate climate change and address air pollution simultaneously. In summarising,…
Net-Zero North: Delivering the decarbonisation mission in the north of England (IPPR)
7th December 2017 The North’s economy is more carbon intensive than the English average, and its many carbon-intensive industries face a challenging transition. However, the North has a large economic potential, more of which could be unlocked from directed investment. This IPPR report sets out a regional green industrial strategy for delivering a decarbonised north…
Moving beyond neoliberalism (Friends Provident Foundation)
October 2017 Neoliberalism – the set of socioeconomic ideas and policies which have dominated public life over the last 40 years – has failed. Despite the evidence that neither its analyses nor its prescriptions have worked, neoliberalism remains the dominant perspective of most socioeconomic commentary and policy-making in the UK. It needs to be replaced…
Time for a New Paradigm? Past and Present Transitions in Economic Policy (Political Quarterly)
1st September 2017 This article, written with Alfie Stirling, seeks to place the UK’s present economic ‘moment’ in historical context. Over the course of the decade since the 2007 financial crisis, it has increasingly been acknowledged that a cyclical crisis has become a structural crisis. The failure of most economists to predict the financial crash…
Gearing up for the transition: The role of transport in a Northern energy strategy (IPPR)
18th July 2017 This IPPR paper – released as part of the major Northern Energy Taskforce – explores the major problems facing transport, and the potential of a mobility transition to overcome these problems as part of a wider programme of socioeconomic renewal. It argues that the north of England is well positioned to play…
Crossroads: Choosing a future for London’s transport in the digital age (IPPR)
24th March 2017 With the emergence of disruptive technologies, London is on the cusp of major changes to the way that people move around the city. This IPPR report explains how positive network effects between new and existing transport services represent an unprecedented opportunity to overcome London’s transport difficulties, providing the mayor with profound scope…
Lethal and illegal: Solving London’s air pollution crisis (IPPR)
2nd November 2016 The follow up to a preliminary study, this major IPPR report explores new policies to reduce air pollution focussing on increases in regulation and road charging, and tax reforms. It recommends investment should then be channelled into sustainable alternatives, including shared transport, and support programmes for those groups most affected during the…
Lethal and illegal: London’s air pollution crisis (IPPR)
18th July 2016 Air pollution is a huge and growing public health problem for the UK, and for London in particular. Across the UK as many as 40,000 deaths a year are attributed to outdoor air pollution, and it is the second most significant factor impacting on public health in London, after smoking. This IPPR…
Gateways to the northern powerhouse: A northern ports strategy (IPPR)
29th June 2016 The north of England’s major ports are vital and high-performing assets for region’s industries and economy, and the right strategy could further transform the North into an east–west supercorridor connecting Atlantic shipping with continental Europe. This IPPR report presents a plan for how, through closer and more effective collaboration, this vision –…
Community and local energy: Challenges and opportunities (IPPR)
3rd June 2016 A rising number of community energy projects and municipal and community-owned energy retail supply companies have been formed in recent years. This IPPR report looked at the significant challenges facing both kinds of initiative and what can be done to realise the huge potential benefits of community and local energy.
London: Global green city (IPPR)
6th April 2016 The mayor of London elected in May 2016 will face formidable environmental challenges. London’s air pollution is lethal and illegal, responsible for more illness and premature deaths than alcohol or obesity. Traffic congestion is rising. Greenhouse gas emissions are not on track to meet current targets, and around a million people live…
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Laurie Laybourn 