Can we fight poverty and inequality while protecting the environment? The challenges are obvious. To rise out of poverty is to consume more resources, almost by definition. And many measures to combat pollution lead to job losses and higher prices that mainly hurt the poor. In his new book Unsustainable Inequalities, economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab in Paris, Lucas Chancel confronts these difficulties head-on, arguing that the goals of social justice and a greener world can be compatible, but that progress requires substantial changes in public policy.

Chancel argues that we need to break down the walls between traditional social policy and environmental protection, to make sure that the benefits of these policies are directed across society, all the while ensuring better coordination between central government and local authorities on the front lines of deprivation and contamination.

Lucas Chancel (@lucas_chancel) is codirector of the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics and coeditor of the World Inequality Report 2018. A lecturer at Sciences Po, he is also Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. His new book is Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment published by Harvard University Press this October.

Alina Averchenkova (@averchenkova) is a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics where she leads Governance and Legislation research theme. With over 20 year of experience on climate change and international development, Alina’s current work focuses on the analysis of the implementation of the Paris agreement, national climate governance and legislation. She also advises policy makers and parliaments on the design and implementation of climate change laws and policies. Prior to joining LSE, Alina has worked for the international consultancy KPMG, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a carbon asset manager First Climate and the Environmental Defence Fund. Alina holds a BSc in Geography from Moscow State University, and an MSc and a PhD in Economics and International Development from the University of Bath.