Environmental Economics and Climate Decision-Making with EAERE

The 30th EAERE Annual Conference in Bergen, Norway, 2025

As climate commitments tighten across Europe and globally, governments face increasing pressure to translate environmental targets into workable economic measures. Designing instruments that balance environmental goals, economic efficiency and social impacts requires rigorous analysis and credible evidence. Environmental and resource economists play a key role in evaluating trade-offs and helping governments design measures that deliver tangible results.

In this interview, Linda Nøstbakken (on the right), President of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), discusses how economic research informs climate decision-making and sustainability governance. A research director at Statistics Norway and professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, Linda reflects on the role environmental economists play in designing economic instruments and evaluating sustainability outcomes. Founded in 1990, EAERE brings together more than 1,200 researchers, public officials and practitioners across 60 countries, working across environmental science, economics and public decision-making, and fostering collaboration between academia, public institutions and the private sector.

How does the EAERE define its role today in advancing environmental, climate and resource economics, particularly at the interface between research and public decision-making?

EAERE is first and foremost a scientific association. Our mission is to advance research in environmental and resource economics and to make that evidence available and usable for decision-makers. We do this through our peer-reviewed outlets (Environmental & Resource Economics, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, and the EAERE Book Series), our Annual Conference, support for earlycareer researchers (through training, financial support and academic excellence awards), and policy outreach activities that bring academics together with European and international policymakers and practitioners.

In a global context marked by environmental challenges and geopolitical tensions, careful economic analysis is more important than ever. EAERE’s role is not to advocate specific political positions, but to provide research-based evidence that helps policymakers understand trade-offs, design effective instruments, and anticipate broader consequences. Our role is to strengthen the conditions under which sound evidence informs public debate and policy design.

EAERE brings together academics, policymakers and practitioners. Why is this cross-sector community essential for addressing sustainability and climate challenges in practical terms?

Environmental and climate challenges cut across sectors, levels of governance and time horizons. No single group, academics, policymakers or practitioners, can address them alone. EAERE’s activities feature, alongside academic sessions, policy panels, roundtables and science-policy events focused on current challenges such as climate instrument design, biodiversity protection and the social impacts of environmental regulation.

Equally important is EAERE’s community-building role. By connecting researchers across career stages and countries, it fosters long-term networks that support innovation and collaboration. This combination of scientific excellence, policy relevance and community engagement makes EAERE’s events a central platform in the field.

Your Annual Conference is one of the association’s most visible activities. What makes it an important platform for both scientific exchange and policy-relevant debate on sustainability?

The Annual Conference is one of EAERE’s most visible activities because it combines frontier research with structured opportunities for policy dialogue. Alongside traditional academic sessions, the programme includes dedicated policy sessions, roundtables and science-policy-business events that focus on current challenges, such as climate policy design, biodiversity protection and the distributional impacts of environmental regulation.

Equally important is the conference’s role as a communitybuilding event. By bringing together researchers at all career stages, it fosters long-term networks. This combination of scientific depth, policy relevance and community engagement makes the Annual Conference a valuable platform within the field.

Every four years, however, the global community gathers for the World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE), organised by the World Council of Environmental and Resource Economists Associations and co-organised by regional associations including the Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AAERE), the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE), the African Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AFAERE), and the Latin American Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (LAERE). The next congress, the 7th WCERE, will take place from 29 June to 3 July 2026 in Carcavelos, Portugal, hosted by NOVA School of Business and Economics (NOVA SBE).
 

“The growing politicisation of environmental and climate policy makes EAERE’s role both more challenging and more important.”

EAERE is present in international policy forums, from initiatives such as the Net Zero Carbon Market Policy Dialogue to its participation at COP30. How do you connect this work to ESG priorities and to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

EAERE’s participation in international policy forums reflects a commitment to linking economic evidence with global sustainability goals. Work on carbon markets, climate finance, the just transition and institutional design speaks directly to ESG priorities and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

From an economic perspective, these agendas raise fundamental questions about incentives, governance, investment and accountability. EAERE contributes researchbased insights on how markets can support decarbonisation, how policies can balance efficiency and equity, and how international cooperation can be strengthened, helping ensure that sustainability commitments are backed by credible economic instruments.

Environmental and climate policies are increasingly politicised in parts of Europe and beyond. How does this context affect EAERE’s efforts to bring economic evidence into debates on instruments such as carbon pricing, emissions trading and the just transition?

The growing politicisation of environmental and climate policy makes EAERE’s role both more challenging and more important. In polarised debates, evidence can be selectively used or dismissed, and trust in expertise can be fragile.

EAERE’s response is to emphasise scientific integrity, transparency and careful communication, including uncertainties and trade-offs. Whether on carbon pricing, emissions trading or the just transition, we aim to clarify rather than simplify, grounding discussions in peer-reviewed research and providing neutral forums where complex issues can be examined constructively.

Looking ahead to 2030 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, what contribution should environmental and resource economists make, and how is EAERE preparing its community for this role?

Environmental and resource economists will be central towards the transition toward sustainable, resilient economies. Their contributions include designing effective policy instruments, evaluating what works in practice, understanding interactions between climate, biodiversity and social outcomes, and identifying pathways that are economically sound and socially acceptable.

EAERE supports its community through training programmes, international collaboration and sustained engagement with policy institutions. At a time when open science and academic independence face increasing pressures in parts of the world, maintaining a vibrant, inclusive and connected research community is itself a vital contribution, and one EAERE is committed to supporting.
 

Powered by Meeting Media Company, publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.