The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) brought together some of the world’s leading researchers on climate change economics and policy, from many different disciplines. It was established in 2008 and its third Phase ended in December 2023. The Centre is in a Legacy mode between 2024 and 2028 with limited funding for small outreach and engagement projects relating to CCCEP activities.
The Centre was hosted jointly by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and was chaired by Professor Lord Stern of Brentford. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
The Centre’s mission was to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research.
Research objectives
Phase 3 of the Centre consists of seven projects. They build on the five research themes during phase 2 and complement other projects carried out at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the London School of Economics and Political Science and at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds.
The Centre is undertaking seven research projects during phase 3:
- Low-carbon, climate-resilient cities
- Sustainable infrastructure finance
- Low-carbon industrial strategies in challenging contexts
- Integrating climate and development policies for ‘climate compatible development’
- Competitiveness in the low-carbon economy
- Incentives for behaviour change
- Climate information for adaptation
The Centre had five integrated research themes during phase 2:
- Understanding green growth and climate-compatible development
- Advancing climate finance and investment
- Evaluating the performance of climate policies
- Managing climate risks and uncertainties and strengthening climate services
- Enabling rapid transitions in mitigation and adaptation
The ESRC Centre’s five interlinked research programmes during its first phase were:
- Developing climate science and economics
- Climate change governance for a new global deal
- Adaptation to climate change and human development
- Governments, markets and climate change mitigation
- The Munich Re Programme – evaluating the economics of climate risks and opportunities in the insurance sector
Funding
The Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy has been funded since its foundation in 2008 by the UK Economic and Social Research Council. Phase 1 of funding was provided from October 2008 until September 2013, and support for phase 2 occurred between October 2013 and September 2018. Phase 3 of funding began on 1 October 2018.
Governance
An Advisory Group provides advice about the general strategy of CCCEP.
The management group, led by the directors at LSE and the University of Leeds, ensures the achievement of the ESRC Centre’s mission and its policy and research objectives.
The activities of the ESRC Centre complement the work of LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) at the University of Leeds.