Complexity Economics for Environmental Governance

Dr Jean-François Mercure is Associate Professor in Climate Change Policy at the University of Exeter, UK. His research focuses on developing models and methods for public policy appraisal in low-carbon innovation based on complexity science, and for assessing the macroeconomic impacts of diverse types of low-carbon, energy and climate policies. Jean-François Mercure has worked at several universities including the University of Cambridge, where he was Deputy Director of the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research, and remains now fellow of the Cambridge Centre for Energy, Environment and Natural Resource Governance (C-EERNG), as well as Hughes Hall. He regularly engages with policy-makers from across UK government, the European Commission and other governments internationally.

• Part I. The Current State of Knowledge: 1. Introducing Complex Environmental Economics; 2. Complexity Heterogeneity, and Uncertainty; 3. Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Paradigms; 4. Philosophies of Science and the Policy Cycle; Part II. A Positive Theory for Complexity Economics: 5. Concepts of Complexity for Economics; 6. Fundamental Uncertainty; 7. Micro-Foundations for Consumer Theory; 8. Micro-foundations for a Theory of Innovation; 9. The Nature of Money; 10. Micro-Foundations for Credit Creation; 11. A Model for Growth and Creative Destruction; Part III. Applied Complexity Economics for Environmental Governance: 12. Risk-Opportunity Analysis; 13. Science & Policy for the Energy-Water-Food Nexus; 14. Technology Dynamics in a Low-Carbon Transition; 15. Structural Change in a Low-Carbon Transition; 16. Conclusion and Outlook.

'Jean-Francois Mercure is in the vanguard of experts seeing the economy in a new way: not as a predictable machine, but as an ever-changing ecosystem. His insights will be valuable to anyone who wants to bring about real-world change. This book is an essential guide to the new economics of climate change.' Simon Sharpe, Deputy Director, Policy campaigns, COP26 Unit, UK Cabinet Office