In this seminar, Dirk Pilat will explore the links between climate change and productivity as regards measurement, analysis and policy. While much of the debate has focused on economic measures of productivity, like labour productivity, improving productivity in the use of resources and natural capital is crucial to achieving net zero and requires greater emphasis, including in productivity measurement. There is growing evidence that mainstream economic studies have long underestimated the damaging impacts of climate change on growth and productivity. At the same time, studies today may well overestimate the costs of policies to address climate change on productivity, in underestimating the dynamic and social benefits of policy action and in comparing the impacts of policy with an unrealistic counterfactual. The key question today is not whether we can have productivity growth or not, but what policies can achieve a rapid transition to net zero while also supporting wellbeing and productivity.
For an invitation, please email: theproductivityinstitute@manchester.ac.uk (TPI academics only)
