Professor Cameron Hepburn

Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

Profile

Cameron Hepburn is Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford, and Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He also serves as the Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme, based at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School.

Cameron has published widely on energy, resources and environmental challenges across disciplines including engineering, biology, philosophy, economics, public policy and law, drawing on degrees in law and engineering (Melbourne University) and masters and doctorate in economics (Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar). He has co-founded three successful businesses and has provided advice on energy and environmental policy to government ministers (e.g. China, India, UK and Australia) and international institutions (e.g. OECD, UN).

Projects

Teaching

Current graduate research students

Joris Bücker | Long term (economic) policy tools based on complexity economics and the non-linear planetary impact of climate change
Alex Clark | Stranded states: Public management of fossil fuel assets in the international system
Adam Ferris | Studying decision architecture to find key behavioural intervention measures for increased traction in green consumption
Andrea Bacilleri
Brian O'Callaghan
Cari Baumgärtner
Kathryn Condon
Kaya Masler
Matteo Gasparini | Exploring the role of financial institutions in the low carbon transition and the implications for financial stability
Max Nathanson | Strategic Urban Development and the Climate-Security Nexus in US Foreign Policy: Evidence from Central America
Moritz Schwarz | Climate Risks and the Financial System - The role of climate-stress testing for central banks and financial regulators
Carter Powis | A multi-disciplinary analysis of the role of transient negative emissions in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement
Xiyu Ren | The impact of the energy transition on the economy: studies on the pattern and the relationship between policy contexts, firm decisions and innovation choices
Adam Parr | Law and regeneration in seventeenth-century England
Rupert Stuart-Smith | Attribution science in the courts: establishing the liability of greenhouse gas emitters for climate change damages
Frank Sperling

Recent graduate research students (since 2006)

Lucas Kruitwagen | Completed DPhil in 2021 | Technology, information, and the governance of environmental risk
Penelope Mealy | Completed DPhil in 2018 | ‘Know What?’ New lens on productive knowledge shed light on long run development structural change, job switching and the transition to the green economy
Alexander Pfeiffer | Completed DPhil in 2018 | The ‘decarbonisation identity’ and pathways to net-zero: the scale and impact of committed cumulative carbon emissions and stranded assets in the electricity generation sector on the decarbonisation of the economy
Yangsiyu Lu | Environmental Risks, Stranded Assets, and the Impacts of Regulation on Firm Productivity
Galina Alova | The low-carbon transition of the global electricity sector
Sugandha Srivastav | Understanding and Incentivising Innovation for a Climate Compatible Future

Selected publications

For a complete list of publications please visit Prof Hepburn's personal website

Books

Hamilton, K. and Hepburn, C. (eds.) (2017) National Wealth: What is Missing, Why it Matters. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 496. ISBN: 9780198803720.
Helm, D. and Hepburn, C. (eds.) (2014) Nature in the Balance: The Economics of Biodiversity. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 448. ISBN: 9780199676880.

Journal articles

Iacopo Savelli, Jeffrey Hardy, Cameron Hepburn, Thomas Morstyn,
Putting wind and solar in their place: Internalising congestion and other system-wide costs with enhanced contracts for difference in Great Britain, Energy Economics, Volume 113, 2022, 106218
Dibley, A., Wetzer, T. and Hepburn, C. (2021) National COVID debts: climate change imperils countries' ability to repay. Nature, 592: 184-187.
Fankhauser, S., Smith, S.M., Allen, M. et al. (2021) The meaning of net zero and how to get it right. Nature Climate Change.
Kruitwagen, L., Story, K.Y., Friedrich, J., Byers, L., Skillman, S. and Hepburn, C. (2021) A global inventory of photovoltaic solar energy generating units. Nature, 598: 604-610.
Curry, O., Hare, D., Hepburn, C., Johnson, D., Buhrmester, M., Whitehouse, H. and MacDonald, D. (2020) Cooperative conservation: Seven ways to save the world. Conservation Science and Practice, 2(1).
Garrick, D.E., Hanemann, M. and Hepburn, C. (2020) Rethinking the economics of water: an assessment. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(1): 1-23.
Hepburn, C. Stern, N. and Stiglitz, J.E. (2020) "Carbon pricing" special issue in the European economic review. European Economic Review, 127. 103440.
Hepburn, C., O'Callaghan, B., Stern, N., Stiglitz, J. and Zenghelis, D. (2020) Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change? Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(S1).
Pless, J., Hepburn, C. and Farrell, N. (2020) Bringing rigour to energy innovation policy evaluation. Nature Energy, 5: 284-290.
Cohen, F., Hepburn, C., and Teytelboym, A. (2019) Is Natural Capital Really Substitutable? Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 44: 425-448.
Farmer, J.D., Hepburn, C., Ives, M.C., Hale, T., Wetzer, T., Mealy, P. Rafaty, R., Srivastav, S. and Way, R. (2019) Sensitive intervention points in the post-carbon transition. Science, 364(6436): 132-134.
Hepburn, C., Adlen, E., Beddington, J. et al. (2019) The technological and economic prospects for CO₂ utilization and removal. Nature, 575: 87-97.
Morstyn, T., Teytelboym, A., Hepburn, C. and McCulloch, M.D. (2019) Integrating P2P Energy Trading with Probabilistic Distribution Locational Marginal Pricing. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid.
Creutzig, F., Roy, J., Lamb, W.F., Azevedo, I.M.L., Bruine de Bruin, W., Dalkmann, H., Edelenbosch, O.Y., Geels, F.W., Grubler, A., Hepburn, C., Hertwich, E., Khosla, R., Mattauch, L., Minx, J.C., Ramakrishnan, A., Rao, N.D., Steinberger, J., Tavoni, M., Urge-Vorsatz, D. and Weber, E.U. (2018) Towards demand-side solutions for mitigating climate change. Nature Climate Change, 8: 268-271.
Hepburn, C., Pless, J. and Popp, D. (2018) Policy Brief—Encouraging Innovation that Protects Environmental Systems: Five Policy Proposals. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 12(1).
Klenert, D., Mattauch, L., Combet, E., Edenhofer, O., Hepburn, C., Rafaty, R. and Stern, N. (2018) Making carbon pricing work for citizens. Nature Climate Change, 8: 669-677.
Millar, R.J., Hepburn, C., Beddington, J. and Allen, M. (2018) Principles to guide investment towards a stable climate. Nature Climate Change, 8: 2-4.
Pfeiffer, A., Hepburn, C., Vogt-Schilb, A. and Caldecott, B. (2018) Committed emissions from existing and planned power plants and asset stranding required to meet the Paris Agreement. Environmental Research Letters, 13(5).
Garrick, D.E., Hall, J.W., Dobson, A., Damania, R., Grafton, R.Q., Hope, R., Hepburn, C., Bark, R., Boltz, F., De Stefano, L., O'Donnell, E., Matthews, N. and Money, A. (2017) Valuing water for sustainable development. Science, 358(6366): 1003-1005.
Groom, B. and Hepburn, C. (2017) Reflections - Looking Back at Social Discounting Policy: The Influence of Papers, Presentations, Political Preconditions, and Personalities. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 11(2): 336-356.
Hepburn, C. (2017) Climate change economics: Make carbon pricing a priority. Nature Climate Change, 7: 389-390.
Hepburn, C. and Teytelboym, A. (2017) Climate change policy after Brexit. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(S1): 144-154.
Victor, D.G., Akimoto, K., Kaya, Y., Yamaguchi, M., Cullenward, D. and Hepburn, C. (2017) Prove Paris was more than paper promises. Nature, 548: 25-27.
Covington, H., Thornton, J. and Hepburn, C. (2016) Global warming: Shareholders must vote for climate-change mitigation. Nature, 530.
Hepburn, C., Neuhoff, K., Acworth, W., Burtraw, D. and Jotzo, F. (2016) The Economics of the EU ETS Market Stability Reserve. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 80: 1-5.
Mattauch, L. and Hepburn, C. (2016) Climate Policy When Preferences Are Endogenous—and Sometimes They Are. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 40(1): 76-95.
Pfeiffer, A. and Hepburn, C. (2016) Facing the Challenge of Climate Change. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 8(2): 201-215.
Pfeiffer, A., Millar, R., Hepburn, C. and Beinhocker, E. (2016) The ‘2°C capital stock’ for electricity generation: Committed cumulative carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector and the transition to a green economy. Applied Energy, 179: 1395-1408.
Beinhocker, E., Hepburn, C., Farmer, D. and Teytelboym, A. (2015) Resilient and inclusive prosperity within planetary boundaries. China and World Economy, 22(5): 76-92.
Farmer, J.D., Hepburn, C., Mealy, P. and Teytelboym, A. (2015) A third wave in the economics of climate change. Environmental and Resource Economics, 62(2): 329-357.
Bowen, A. and Hepburn, C. (2014) Green growth: an assessment. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 30(3): 407-422.
Hamilton, K. and Hepburn, C. (2014) Wealth. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 30(1): 1-20.
Thomas, V., Albert, J.R.G. and Hepburn, C. (2014) Contributors to the frequency of intense climate disasters in Asia-Pacific countries. Climatic Change, 126(3-4): 381-398.
Baptist, S. and Hepburn, C. (2013) Intermediate inputs and economic productivity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 371(1986). 20110565.
Dietz, S. and Hepburn, C. (2013) Benefit–cost analysis of non-marginal climate and energy projects. Energy Economics, 40: 61-71.
Hepburn, C.J., Quah, J.K.H. and Ritz, R.A. (2013) Emissions trading with profit-neutral permit allocations. Journal of Public Economics, 98: 85-99.
Chu, B., Duncan, S., Papachristodoulou, A. and Hepburn, C. (2012) Analysis and control design of sustainable policies for greenhouse gas emissions. Applied Thermal Engineering, 53(2): 420-431.
Helm, D. and Hepburn, C. (2012) The economic analysis of biodiversity: an assessment. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 28(1): 1-21.
Helm, D., Hepburn, C. and Ruta, G. (2012) Trade, climate change and the political game theory of border carbon adjustments. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 28(2): 368-394.
Hepburn, C. (2012) The energy mix, carbon pricing and border carbon adjustments. Environmental Law and Management, 24: 177-185.
Ward, J., Hepburn, C., Anthoff, D., Baptist, S., Gradwell, P., Hope, C. and Krahé, M. (2012) Self-interested low-carbon growth in Brazil, China and India. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 4(3): 291-318.
Caney, S. and Hepburn, C. (2011) Carbon Trading: Unethical, Unjust and Ineffective? Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, 69: 201-234.
Duncan, S., Hepburn, C. and Papachristodoulou, A. (2011) Optimal harvesting of fish stocks under a time-varying discount rate. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 269(1): 166-173.
Dutton, A.J., Hepburn, C. and Macdonald, D.W. (2011) A Stated Preference Investigation into the Chinese Demand for Farmed vs. Wild Bear Bile. PloS One, 6(7). e21243.
Hepburn, C. and Ward, J. (2011) Self-interested Low-carbon Growth in G-20 Emerging Markets. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 3(2): 195-222.
Hepburn, C., Koundouri, P., Panopoulou, E. and Pantelidis, T. (2009) Social discounting under uncertainty: A cross-country comparison. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 57(2): 140-150.

Book chapters

Dutton, A.J., Gratwicke, B., Hepburn, C., Herrera, E.A. and Macdonald, D.W. (2013) Tackling unsustainable wildlife trade. Chapter 5 in, Macdonald, D.W. and Willis, K.J. (eds.) Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 74-91. ISBN: 9780470658765.
Hepburn, C. and Bowen, A. (2013) Prosperity with Growth: Economic Growth, Climate Change and Environmental Limits. Chapter 29 in, Fouquet, R. (ed.) Handbook On Energy And Climate Change. Edward Elgar. ISBN: 9780857933683.

Other publications

Mattauch, L., Millar, R., van der Ploeg, R., Rezai, A., Schultes, A., Venmans, F., Bauer, N., Dietz, S., Edenhofer, O., Farrell, N., Hepburn, C., Luderer, G., Pless, J., Spuler, F., Stern, N. and Teytelboym, A. (2018) Steering the Climate System: An Extended Comment. CESifo Working Paper No. 7414.

Reports

Clark, A., Ives, M., Fay, B., Lambe, R., Schiele, J., Larsson, L., Krejcie, J., Tillmann-Morris, L., Barbrook-Johnson, P. and Hepburn, C. (2021) Zero-Emissions Shipping: Contracts-for-difference as incentives for the decarbonisation of international shipping. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford.
Ives, M.C., Righetti, L., Schiele, J., De Meyer, K., Hubble-Rose, L., Teng, F., Kruitwagen, L., Tillmann-Morris, L., Wang, T., Way, R. and Hepburn, C. (2021) A new perspective on decarbonising the global energy system. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford.
Allen, M., Axelsson, K., Caldecott, B., Hale, T., Hepburn, C., Hickey, C., Mitchell-Larson, E., Malhi, Y., Otto, F., Seddon, N. and Smith, S. (2020) The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford.
Cohen, F., Ives, M., Srivastav, S., Schwarz, M., Lu, Y., Mealy, P., De Souza, P., Jackson, L. and Hepburn, C. (2020) Climate change and Emerging Markets after Covid-19. Pictet Asset Management 153 pp.
Allen, M., Haszeldine, S., Hepburn, C., Le Quere, C. and Millar, R. (2015) Securing the UK’s Energy and Climate Future: Energy Bill 2015. Oxford Martin School, UK.

Workshops

Farmer, D. and Hepburn, C. (2014) Less Precision, more truth: Uncertainty in climate economics and macroprudential policy. Bank of England interdisciplinary workshop.