PhD Student Workshop on Climate Finance
There are many linkages between economic policies, household and business decisions, financial markets, and the rate of climate change. In particular, economic activity is a key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that affect the rate of global warming. Asset markets, in turn, are affected by climate change because many securities represent claims on long-term cash flows that can be affected by future climate conditions and government policies aimed at addressing climate change.
“Climate finance” is the study of how financial markets and their participants are affected by climate change, how they adapt and respond to climate-related risks, and how they affect the flow of resources towards green modes of production in sectors such as agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.
To support early-career scholars who are studying climate finance, and to promote research on these issues more generally, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), with generous support from Norges Bank Investment Management, will convene a workshop for PhD students in economics, finance, accounting, and related fields who are writing dissertations on climate finance. The meeting will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2025 in Cambridge, MA, and it will be followed by a research conference on Friday, October 10. Both the dissertation-writer workshop and the conference will be organized by NBER Research Associates Caroline Flammer (Columbia University) and Stefano Giglio (Yale University).
The dissertation-writer workshop will provide an opportunity for students to receive valuable feedback from peers as well as established researchers on their research project, to meet a number of established researchers in the field, and to obtain career advice. The organizers welcome dissertation research on the interaction between climate change and capital markets. This includes topics such as how climate risks and nature risks affect a variety of asset markets, including real estate, equities, and government debt; the effects of policies and practices of asset owners and firms on greenhouse gas emissions; the supply of finance for projects that adapt to or mitigate the risk of climate change; the interrelationship between the climate transition, geopolitics, and global financial markets; the effect of climate risks on insurance markets and the effect of insurance markets on household and firm behavior; and the effectiveness of climate actions on mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The dissertation-writer workshop will include about 12 participants who are currently enrolled in PhD programs and who have a complete draft of at least one research paper on climate finance. Applicants must be at the dissertation-writing stage of their PhD program in economics or a closely related field. Preference will be given for students whose research agenda focuses on climate finance. The NBER will cover travel costs and up to three nights of lodging for participating students.
Applicants should assemble the following materials in a single PDF file:
1) A cover letter indicating their name, complete contact information, university, description of their current and future research interests, expected completion date of their PhD program, and the name of at least one faculty adviser who could serve as a reference.
2) A curriculum vitae.
3) A research paper that is work-in-progress and for which feedback is sought. That is, the paper should not be published; it should be at the stage at which comments and feedback would be helpful.
Upload application packet by 11:59pm ET on Thursday, August 7, 2025 .
Applications that are not received by the deadline will not be considered. Applicants should use their name when completing the “Title of application” field. Please indicate in the "Optional Comments or Information" field on the second page where you heard about this program. Acceptance decisions will be announced in early September.
Questions about program logistics may be addressed to Angela Garger (gargera@nber.org), the NBER Conference Director. Questions about the workshop program may be addressed to the academic coordinators, Caroline Flammer (caroline.flammer@columbia.edu) or Stefano Giglio (stefano.giglio@yale.edu).