Philippe Aghion
2025 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | Professor at Collège de France, INSEAD & the London School of Economics | Innovation, Competition & Growth Economist
William Nordhaus
2018 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | Sterling Professor Emeritus, Yale University | Creator of the DICE Climate-Economy Model | Pioneer of Carbon Pricing
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As companies and governments put real money behind climate commitments, William Nordhaus explains the economics underneath them. The 2018 Nobel laureate built the DICE model behind social cost of carbon estimates and proposed the climate club idea that informs border carbon policy. On stage he turns climate risk into clear numbers and trade-offs, giving senior leaders a disciplined way to judge carbon pricing, transition costs, and policy risk.
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William Nordhaus biography
William Nordhaus is the economist who taught the world to put a price on climate change. A member of the Yale University faculty since 1967 and now Sterling Professor Emeritus of Economics, he built the analytical tools that governments, central banks, and investors use to weigh the cost of emissions against the cost of cutting them. Speaker William Nordhaus is widely regarded as the founding figure of climate-change economics.
The Nobel-winning economics speaker shared the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Paul Romer “for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis.” That recognition rests on the DICE model (Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy), which he first published in the early 1990s and has refined ever since. DICE links economic activity, emissions, temperature, and damages in a single framework, and it became one of the core models behind official estimates of the social cost of carbon. Its DICE-2023 update, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that current policies fall well short of the Paris Agreement goals.
From Carbon Pricing to Climate Clubs
Nordhaus has long argued that emissions are an externality markets will not correct on their own, and that a carbon price is the most efficient remedy. In 2015 he proposed the “climate club,” a coalition of countries that adopt coordinated carbon pricing and apply border fees to nonmembers, an idea now central to debates over carbon border adjustments. His books include Managing the Global Commons, The Climate Casino, and The Spirit of Green, and for many editions he co-authored the classic textbook Economics with Paul Samuelson.
His public service includes the Council of Economic Advisers under President Carter, a term as Yale provost, and chairmanship of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He has served as president of the American Economic Association, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
As a speaker, William Nordhaus brings the clarity of the economist who defined the field to the questions boards and policymakers face now: how to price climate risk, why current policies fall short, and what a credible path to decarbonization will cost. His talks suit senior audiences in finance, energy, policy, and sustainability who want evidence rather than slogans.
William Nordhaus Speaking Videos
Prize lecture: William D. Nordhaus, Prize in Economic Sciences 2018
Nobel laureate William Nordhaus: The economics of climate change
William Nordhaus Speaking Topics
Drawing on The Climate Casino, Nordhaus treats climate change as what it is in economic terms: a vast market failure whose costs can be modeled, compared, and managed. He shows how integrated assessment translates emissions into damages, why the gap between today's policies and what DICE-2023 recommends reflects political will more than scientific doubt, and how decision-makers should think about low-probability, high-impact outcomes. Audiences leave with an evidence-based framework for treating climate risk as a measurable business and policy variable rather than an abstraction.
Economists broadly agree that putting a price on carbon is the most efficient way to cut emissions, yet effective prices remain far below what the science and the models call for. Nordhaus explains how carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems work, what the social cost of carbon measures and how it is estimated, why pricing outperforms piecemeal regulation, and which political and institutional barriers keep it from scaling. A practical briefing for executives, investors, and policymakers building climate transition strategies.
Voluntary international agreements keep falling short because they reward free-riding. Nordhaus presents his climate club proposal: a coalition of countries that align carbon prices and apply border fees to nonmembers, turning participation into the economically rational choice. He walks through the game theory behind past failures, what a well-designed club would require, and what the idea means for companies exposed to carbon border adjustments, trade policy, and supply-chain emissions.
Conventional national accounts ignore the depletion of natural capital and the harm of pollution, which steers economies toward poor decisions. Nordhaus traces his work on environmental accounting, from the Measure of Economic Welfare he developed with James Tobin to the ideas in The Spirit of Green, and makes the case for an economy that prices pollution, values natural resources, and aligns market incentives with long-term well-being. Ideal for leaders in finance, sustainability, and public policy.
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FAQs on Booking William Nordhaus
William Nordhaus is the economist who made climate change a core subject of economics. The 2018 Nobel laureate created the DICE model, one of the main tools behind official estimates of the social cost of carbon, and he designed the climate club concept that shapes current debates on carbon border policy. Few speakers can explain with comparable authority what climate risk costs, how carbon pricing works, and where policy is heading. To bring William Nordhaus to your conference or leadership meeting, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check his availability.
DICE, the Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy, is an integrated assessment model that William Nordhaus developed at Yale and first published in the early 1990s. It connects economic growth, carbon emissions, atmospheric concentrations, temperature change, and economic damages in one framework, which lets analysts estimate the social cost of carbon and compare policy options such as carbon taxes. Its DICE-2023 update, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that current global policies fall well short of the Paris Agreement goals.
A climate club is a proposal William Nordhaus published in 2015 in the American Economic Review. Member countries agree on a common minimum carbon price and apply uniform border fees to imports from nonmembers. The penalty makes joining more attractive than free-riding, which addresses the main weakness of voluntary climate agreements. The idea is now widely cited in discussions of carbon border adjustment mechanisms and climate-aligned trade policy.
His keynotes are best suited to senior audiences who need to understand the economics of climate change: corporate boards and strategy teams, banks and asset managers assessing climate risk, energy and industrial companies planning their transition, and government and multilateral policymakers. He brings rigorous analysis of carbon pricing, the social cost of carbon, and international cooperation, explained in plain language. To book speaker William Nordhaus for your event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book William Nordhaus as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about William Nordhaus's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for William Nordhaus or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
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Yes, William Nordhaus is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book William Nordhaus for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
