Can Green Innovation Stimulate Economies and Curb Emissions?

Zeina Hasna is visiting us from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will present her joint work on green innovation. The discussion will draw on a few background working papers analyzing the economic impact of green innovation at the macro-and micro-levels, and the role of environmental policies in boosting green innovation and diffusion.

Innovation in low-carbon technologies (LCTs), which is essential in the fight against climate change, has slowed in recent years. Zeina will draw on work from the IMF to show that a global climate policy strategy can bolster innovation in, and deployment of, LCTs. Countries that expand their climate policy portfolio exhibit higher (1) climate-change-mitigation-patent filings, (2) LCT trade flows, and (3) “green” foreign direct investment flows. Importantly, boosting innovation in, and deployment of, LCTs yields medium-term growth, which mitigates potential costs from climate policies. Based on this work, she and colleagues at the IMF stresses the importance of international policy coordination and cooperation by showcasing evidence of potential climate policy spillovers.

For more details, read this IMF Staff Discussion Note or the blog version of the note available here.

About the speaker: Zeina Hasna is an Economist at the Research Department in the International Monetary Fund. Prior to joining the Fund, Zeina worked as an economic analyst at the World Bank – Mashreq office covering Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Webpage: https://zeinahasna.com/

This event is in collaboration with the Economics & Policy Group at the Cambridge Judge Business School and the King’s Entrepreneurship Lab.