Investment Managers (AXA IM) and the AXA Research Fund have joined forces with Paris School of Economics (PSE) to launch a new research chair “For a successful Energy transition”, in order to further identify the conditions for an energy transition to a net zero emissions world.
This chair incorporates three pillars: to better understand the scale of the cost induced by the energy transition, in particular assess the impact of climate policies in terms of stranded assets and green investments, to identify the macroeconomic scenarios of the transition and their consequences and to reassess the instruments of climate policies in terms of their social and political acceptability.
Led by Mouez Fodha (PSE, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University), Fanny Henriet (PSE, CNRS) and Katheline Schubert (PSE, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University), the chair aims to create a privileged forum for collaboration between investment experts, researchers and practitioners.
The considerations will be fed by work combining theoretical analysis of mechanisms, simulations and empirical estimates based on historical data. Surveys and experiments will be conducted to better understand the preferences and behaviour of individuals towards the types of instruments that can be used to drive the energy transition and the link in the development of trust towards institutions.
Scientific estimates of the carbon budget (the amount of CO2 that we can still emit into the atmosphere while limiting the temperature increase to +2°C) conclude that it is a necessity to reach the objective of net zero emissions by 2050. This emergency requires major structural changes, with a prior transition phase that must consider our societies’ energy choices, but also institutional, financial, budgetary, social and political choices.
Gilles Moëc, AXA Group Chief Economist and Head of Research at AXA IM, said: “By partnering with Paris School of Economics to create this Chair, AXA IM wishes to contribute to the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change and foster the transition to a more sustainable future. Some solutions to these issues do not yet exist. Collaborating with scientific and academic communities is therefore essential to identify solutions and new approaches to fight climate change.”
AXA IM, the AXA Research Fund and PSE would like to make the newly launched chair a shared place for an informed public on the topic, with the objective to improve knowledge by considering instruments beyond the taxation of carbon emissions to conciliate efficiency and social support, through events, seminars and scientific contributions
