Tim Laing

My research is driven by my interest in understanding the twin challenges of environmental protection and economic development, especially where the two intersect. I am interested in questions of natural resource management, including the economic and policy instruments that are required to incentivise such management.

I have extensive experience in the Latin America and Caribbean region focusing on the management of forest, mineral and water resources. I also have interests in understanding the impacts and effectiveness of global and regional emissions trading schemes and have undertaken research on both the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). I am interested in how engagement with the private sector can help to address local, regional and global resource management issues.

I have experience in a range of primary data collection techniques including survey design, interviewing and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data using a range of software packages. I have worked as an independent consultant for NGOs, industry associations and international research agencies on projects relating to climate change, policy design and low-carbon development. I have published on subjects including REDD+, energy investment and mining.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Economics and a member of the Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (CENTRIM).

I am a trained economist with a BA in Economics from the University of Nottingham, a MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and a PhD in Environmental Economics from the London School of Economics.

I have previously worked as a researcher at the Electricity Policy Researh Group at the University of Cambridge, within the Grantham Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of West Indies.

I have published extensively in journals such as Ecological Economics, Resource and Energy Economics, Resources Policy, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Rural Studies, Environmental Conservation and Climatic Change.

I currently supervise students in the fields of renewable energy, sustainable production and technology innovation. I am interested in supervising students in the fields of environmental economics, natural resource management, the extractive industries and the material implications of low-carbon development. 

I am interested in translating my academic research into policy-relevant communications and I have worked with a wide range of organisations to facilitate this. I have previously undertaken projects with Climate Strategies relating to experiences with emissions trading; the Climate and Land Use Alliance on REDD+ and the International Council for Mining and Metals and the World Bank on the role of minerals in the low-carbon transition. I have also worked directly with NGOs such as Conservation International and WWF on a range of topics relating to mining, the environment, fisheries and sustainable development.