Climate Change Economics and Policy

Augustus J. Panton serves as an Economist in the Multilateral Surveillance Division of the IMF's Research Department, bringing extensive expertise in monetary economics, international macroeconomics, and macro-financial climate risks. His distinguished career includes notable achievements in academia and public service, having earned multiple teaching excellence awards including the ANU Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Education while serving as an Associate Lecturer at the Australian National University. His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Economics from the Australian National University, where his thesis focused on climatic disruptions and monetary policy, a Master's in International Economics and Finance from the University of Queensland, and a Master's in Finance from Osmania University. Prior to his IMF role, he held significant positions in Liberia as an economist at the Central Bank and senior economist at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, while also serving as a consultant for the Brookings Institution and as an Adam Smith Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His teaching experience encompasses graduate and undergraduate courses in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and financial economics at the Australian National University, where he demonstrated exceptional teaching ability recognized through multiple awards

Irene Yackovlev serves as a Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she leads the Communications Department matrix team overseeing strategy and policy communications. Her significant contributions include co-authoring the IMF's climate strategy and leading the technical team responsible for implementing the Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending. With extensive experience in economic reform programs, she has provided crucial advisory support to countries like Ecuador during the pandemic and Portugal during the global financial crisis. Her work in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department has been instrumental in advancing the IMF's initiatives on climate change, social spending, and gender equality. A Venezuelan national, Yackovlev coordinates the IMF's involvement with the G20 Compact with Africa and contributes to policy development for small developing states. Her academic credentials include a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University, with additional doctoral studies at MIT. Her expertise spans multiple areas of international economic policy, making her a key figure in shaping the IMF's approach to emerging global challenges

James Roaf currently serves as an Assistant Director in the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, where he has taken on the crucial role of Climate Change Policy Coordinator since 2020. In this position, he leads a specialized team of experts and oversees an expanding portfolio of work focused on developing fiscal policies to address climate change challenges. His distinguished career at the IMF includes significant roles as mission chief for both Russia and Serbia, where he helped shape economic policies and reforms. Roaf has been instrumental in crafting policy responses to major global economic challenges, including the global financial crisis and the eurozone crisis. His expertise extends to developing policies for reserve adequacy and sovereign debt restructuring, and he has worked on critical crisis cases in Russia, Argentina, and Greece. Before joining the IMF, he gained valuable experience at the UK Treasury, and his IMF career has included important overseas assignments in Poland and Bulgaria. Under his leadership, the IMF has significantly expanded its engagement on climate-related policy challenges, integrating climate considerations into the Fund's core activities and country consultations