Professor Irene Lorenzoni

Personal statement:

My research focuses on how people understand and respond to environmental change, in particular how and why such responses are enabled or hindered. My work also encompasses governance of climate change at various societal and geographical levels, both in relation to mitigation and adaptation. I pursue these strands drawing from a variety of social science disciplines through qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

I currently co-lead with Rory Walshe (Government Office for Science) the ACCESS Task Force on Adaptation and Resilience: https://accessnetwork.uk/task-forces-adaptation-and-resilience-task-force/

Publications:

Dudley, H., Holmes, J., Jordan, A., & Lorenzoni, I. (2026). The policy impact of climate change advisory bodies: government responses to the UK Climate Change Committee’s recommendations, 2009–2020. Climate Policy, 26(2), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2025.2497881

Cotton, I., Forster, J., Lorenzoni, I. and Tolhurst, T.J. (2024) Challenges to anticipatory coastal adaptation for transformative nature-based solutions, Global Environmental Change, 88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102893.

Lorenzoni, I., Day, S.A., Mahony, M., Tolhurst, T.J. and Bark, R. (2024) Innovation in coastal governance: management and expectations of the UK’s first sandscaping scheme. Reg Environ Change 24, 101, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-024-02248-x

Moore, B., Geese, L., Kenny, J., Dudley, H., Jordan, A., Prados Pascual, A., Lorenzoni, I., Schaub, S., Enguer, J. & Tosun, J., (2024) Politicians and climate change: A systematic review of the literature. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. 15, 6, e908, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.908

Morelli, A., Johansen, T.G., Pidcock, R., Harold, J., Pirani, A., Gomis, M., Lorenzoni, I., Haughey, E. and Coventry, K. (2021) Co-designing engaging and accessible data visualisations: a case study of the IPCC reports. Climatic Change 168, 26, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03171-4

Other outputs

Lorenzoni, I., Jordan, A., Sullivan-Thomsett, C. and Geese, L. (2025) Using citizens’ assemblies to shape climate policy: a summary of current thinking for policymakers and practitioners. CAST Briefing 43, https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-cast-briefing-43-using-citizens-assemblies-to-shape-climate-policy.pdf

Sullivan-Thomsett, C., Jordan, A., Lorenzoni, I. & Geese, L. (2024). How not to transform: Learning from the backlash against low-carbon heating policy in Germany. CAST Briefing 28. https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CAST-the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-cast-briefing-28-how-not-to-transform-learning-from-the-backlash-against-low-carbon-heating-policy-in-germany.pdf

Projects, Centres & Hubs

• ESRC-funded CAST centre: https://cast.ac.uk/
• ERC-funded ‘Deep Decarbonisation: the Democratic Challenge of Navigating Governance Traps’ project: https://www.deepdcarb.org/
• ARISE project: https://www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/arise
• Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs) Climate Change: https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17577799
• Science, Society and Sustainability (3S) Research Group at UEA: https://3sresearch.org/
• Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research: https://tyndall.ac.uk/