The Inside Scoop on Climate Policy Research, with Catherine Wolfram

We asked MIT Sloan Professor Catherine Wolfram, an energy economist, to share her insights on cutting-edge climate policy research right now. Here’s what she shared:

MIT Climate Policy Center: Name an interesting climate policy scholar whose work you think should get more attention (and why you think that). 

Wolfram: We’re seeing more and more evidence that insurance companies are on the front lines of climate change. In my own work, I’ve documented that increases in insurance costs due to climate change are by far the single biggest climate-related expenditure for U.S. households. There’ve been some really interesting studies on this that have really helped push the conversation forward, including by Ishita Sen and Pari Sastry (who got her PhD at MIT Sloan), as well as by Ben Keys and Phillip Mulder. 

 MCPC: What’s an important recent climate policy study that more people should know about?

Wolfram: With apologies for the self-citation, I am really excited by a report that a team and I put out two weeks ago. We spell out how policymakers could leverage the momentum towards carbon pricing in many parts of the world to form a climate coalition. Brazil is also thinking along these lines in the run-up to COP30, so we’re trying to push this forward. It’s important to highlight how a subset of countries can make progress outside the consensus-based approach driven by the UN.

 MCPC: And what’s an interesting climate-related statistic you’d like to highlight?

​Wolfram: In that report, we note that over 80% of the emissions from the aluminum, steel, cementer and fertilizer sectors are covered by carbon pricing policies, either planned or already implemented. We suggest that the climate coalition focus on those sectors in the beginning.