Latest 100 | LSE Public lectures and events | Audio

This public event marks the global launch of Smarter Than the Storm, a new book by Amitabh Kant and Siddharth Sinha, and explores its core ideas in conversation with Nicholas Stern.

Our current food system is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and global warming. It is also responsible for increasing the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, as well as public health threats such as antimicrobial resistance and pandemics emerging from industrial animal agriculture.

We know the importance of data and evidence in tackling global crises like climate change, but is it stories rather than statistics that will drive change? Our panel discuss how art, literature and performance can be used to connect and inspire people, and how this feeds into activism.

How can scientific evidence help us in an age of “alternative facts”? As chief data reporter for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch uses statistics and graphics to dig into the most pressing issues of the day, covering everything from the economy to climate change, social issues and healthcare. His high-profile use of visualization and data science helped audiences around the world understand the complexities of the coronavirus pandemic. He helps to inject data and evidence-based argument into what can be very polarising topics.

The climate crisis is reshaping economies, societies, and livelihoods—but not everyone bears its costs equally.

Is the return of great power rivalry and conflict eroding the collective capacity and willingness of the international community to address environmental, trade, and public health crises globally?

We know that governments across the world are acting far too slowly in tackling the ecological crisis across its many dimensions, but can we usefully look elsewhere for radical action? Can we even find new solutions in in the most unexpected places - from innovative firms and financial actors emerging in an otherwise ecologically destructive capitalism?

With growing tensions between China and the United States, new "third spaces" are emerging beyond great-power competition. Gone South Village is a short documentary film that explores how overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia create social and global orders that are neither wholly Chinese nor Thai.

The European Investment Bank Group has, as its top priority, ensuring a green transition that benefits citizens, businesses and the planet. The need to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels and reinforce Europe’s energy security has become even more pressing in today’s geopolitical context.

As the world races toward net zero, electricity systems are under pressure like never before. The push for cleaner power collides with soaring demand – driven by electrification, population growth, and energy-hungry technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centres. Can we keep the lights on, cut emissions, and keep energy affordable all at once?

As climate disasters intensify worldwide and displacement reaches historic levels, understanding the economic foundations of integration and their fragility in the face of climate shocks, has become critical for policymakers everywhere. Join experts on refugee integration and climate policy leaders for a film screening and conversation on how to promote the integration of refugees in an era of climate disruption

This lecture by Marwa Daoudy, held in honour of the renowned scholar Fred Halliday, will explore the entanglement of colonialism, capitalism, and environmental exploitation that has shaped the modern global order in ways that continue to structure global inequality.

Who gets access to books? And, to what extent does the act of reading shape our humanity?