Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment

The Grantham Institute Annual Lecture 2024 is given by trailblazing politician, environmental activist and author, Caroline Lucas. The links between the rise of populism, and the acceleration of the nature and climate emergencies, are complex and increasingly inextricable. The extreme right will exploit any and every opportunity to sow discord, and weaponising climate action has now become a major feature of their playbook. At the same time, planetary collapse will create exactly the conditions in which the politics of the populist hard right thrives – chaos, fear and division. Preventing Earth system collapse and preventing the rise of the extreme right are therefore twin tasks that have to be tackled together. This can seem an intractable challenge, until we recognise that it is bold climate action itself which is the best way to neutralise the populist threat. Because if it is to be successful and sustainable, climate action requires exactly the nationwide investment, democratic ren

Professor Jo Haigh, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment presents the 2017 Children’s Christmas lecture: What’s changing our climate? In her Christmas lecture, she will journey back through time, up through the atmosphere and around the solar system to explain the science behind global warming. She’ll then look hopefully to a future where politics, science, new technologies and the young people of our world come together to tackle the worse effects of our changing climate.

Visitors at Imperial Festival 2016 tell us about the environmental issues close to their hearts. Share your own thoughts in the comments section.

The 2016 Grantham Institute annual lecture, delivered by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Grantham Research Associate Dr Sheridan Few discusses why we need electrical energy storage, the key technologies involved and his predictions for the future of energy storage. Read more in our briefing paper: Electrical energy storage for mitigating climate change -

In this video roundup of the Energy and Environment Zone at Imperial Festival 2017, we ask "what does climate change mean to you?", and, crucially, "what is the solution?". Join the #impfest discussion! Music: DC Turner

An event hosted by the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, at Imperial College London, and financial think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative, to discuss findings of a report produced by the two organisations. Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and convener of Mission 2020, opened the event, and was joined by leaders in research, business and industry to discuss the transition to a low carbon economy and the disruptive power of new technologies on the global energy system. Ms Figueres was joined by the co-author of the Expect the Unexpected report, Ajay Gambhir, Senior Climate Change Mitigation Policy Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute, and industry experts Gareth Burns, Head of New Energy Ventures at Statoil, Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times and Tassos Vlassopoulos, Chief Marketing Officer at GE Oil & Gas.

The Paris Agreement has galvanised global commitment to taking strong action on climate change. To limit the average global temperature rise to two degrees Celcius, the future will involve a mix of new technologies, business scenarios and personal decisions. The Grantham Institute is working with policymakers, business leaders and researchers to evaluate decarbonisation pathways and help make the transition to a low-carbon future. Find out more on our website: This animation is based on the findings of Expect the Unexpected: the Disruptive Power of Low-carbon Technology, a report produced by the Grantham Institute in partnership with Carbon Tracker Initiative. It explores the disruptive power of low-carbon technology by looking at how ongoing cost reductions could see solar photovoltaics (PV) and electric vehicles (EVs) impact future demand for coal, oil and gas. The animation shows our vision for a sustainable zero-carbon future. Read the report: Watch more Grantham Institute Explaine

Electrical engineer, Professor Tim Green gives his introductory lecture as Director of the Energy Futures Lab. For more information please visit

A Q&A with Maria Aivaglozou on flooding in Rafina, how it can be predicted, and the impacts of climate change on flood risk. This series presents the work of Grantham Institute researchers on the potential water- and food-related, economic, ecological and health impacts of climate change, as covered by the IPCC Working Group II. Find out more at