The Political Economics of Sustainability

Economists have already derived the first-best environmental policies, but real-world politics are far from them. In fact, the last few years have witnessed political forces reversing conservation and climate policies. To succeed with the green transition, economic policies must be politically acceptable at the introductory stage and, we have learned, over the continuation game. In this conference, we learn from leading scholars in the field how a variety of political forces will influence how sustainable policies must be designed — theoretically as well as empirically.