The two great challenges of the 21st century are the battle against world poverty and managing climate change. Unless we succeed on one, we cannot succeed on the other. Success requires the world, developed and developing countries, to find the path to low-carbon growth. We understand, not perfectly but broadly: the necessary scale of action required to reduce the risks, and the costs of that action; we can see many of the technologies that can deliver low-carbon growth and can encourage more; and we can describe the economic instruments that will give the necessary incentives. What is now required is political will and a global deal.

That global deal must be effective (in terms of scale of action), efficient (in keeping costs down) and equitable (considering history, incomes and technologies) if it is to be built, agreed and sustained. The lecture and the book of the same name on which it is based, will describe why we need this deal, and how it can be constructed and supported. It will also examine the challenges and opportunities in forging the deal during a period of economic turmoil.

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, and author of the forthcoming book, “A Blueprint for a Safer Planet”.

Pre-registration for this event is now full but tickets may be available on the door.