Irene Monasterolo appointed as Professor of Climate Finance

As of 15 October 2023, Irene Monasterolo has been appointed as Professor of Climate Finance at the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.). She will work on climate economics and climate finance, including climate stress-tests, climate impact on sovereign fiscal and financial stability, green fiscal and financial policies, the climate insurance protection gap, and lending tools for climate adaptation.

Irene Monasterolo

Irene Monasterolo holds a PhD in Agri-Food Economics and Statistics from the University of Bologna (2012) and was post-doc at Boston University. Irene is associate editor at Ecological Economics, and fellow at the Institute Louis Bachelier and at SUERF.

Her research contributes to analysing the role of finance in climate change mitigation and adaptation. To this aim, Irene Monasterolo developed methodological approaches to analyse the macro-financial criticality of climate risks, and the role of green finance policies in the low-carbon transition. Her research on a climate stress test and the EIRIN Stock-Flow Consistent behavioural model, have been published in top journals (including Science and Nature Climate Change) and applied by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the European Banking Authority, and national central banks.

Investors’ expectations and financial risk assessment are key for making or failing the low-carbon transition.

I develop research projects that have direct impact on how investors and financial institutions assess and manage climate-financial risks, and contribute to increase socio-economic and financial resilience to climate change.

I am really looking forward to start my new position at Utrecht University, within the U.S.E. Finance team at the School of Economics, says Monasterolo. It is an extremely dynamic research environment that develops high-level and policy-relevant academic research on topics that are closely connected and complementary to my research in climate economics and finance.

Finance and economic policy have a main role to play to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In this regard, sound and independent academic research can provide a relevant contribution to decision-making to address the urgency of the climate crisis and its macro-financial implications. At U.S.E., I can develop research projects that have direct impact on how investors and financial institutions assess and manage climate-financial risks, and contribute to the design of policy tools that increase socio-economic and financial resilience to climate change.

Climate impact and adaptation in the financial system

At U.S.E, Monasterolo will work on climate economics and climate finance, including climate stress-tests, climate impacts on sovereign fiscal and financial stability, green fiscal and financial policies, the climate insurance protection gap, and lending tools for climate adaptation.

Charles van Marrewijk, Head of Department at U.S.E. on Irene Monasterolo: Irene Monasterolo studied at the University of Pavia and the University of Bologna and worked at Boston University, the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria), and EDHEC Business School (France). She has also worked as a consultant for several institutions (including the World Bank and the European Stability Mechanism). Her research is contributing to understand the role of finance in the achievement of the climate targets in both high income and developing countries, and the assessment of climate-financial risks and opportunities for low-carbon transition.

She has co-developed the highly-cited climate stress-test of the financial system, which embeds climate scenarios in financial valuation adjustment and investors' risk assessment, and recently focused on the interplay of investors’ expectations and climate policy credibility.

She is active and successful in fund-raising for large projects. We expect her expertise and activities to substantially strengthen U.S.E.’s sustainable finance profile. She will also be teaching and will be involved in (PhD) student supervision and promoting U.S.E.’s (inter)national visibility and impact.