Luis A. Fernández Intriago
Luis A. Fernández Intriago
Senior Economist, Environmental Defense Fund
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Welcome to my website!
Welcome to my website!
Bio
Bio
I am a Senior Economist within the Economics Team (subscribe to our Newsletter) at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Interim Lead of EDF's new Economic Analysis Hub, and editor of EDF's Economics Discussion Paper (EDP) series. I am also a member of the Climate Action Teams (CAT) initiative and part of the Management Team of the RESET Network - Solutions for South-led just energy transitions. Previously, I was a Post-doctoral Fellow, Labor Economist at EDF.
I am a Senior Economist within the Economics Team (subscribe to our Newsletter) at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Interim Lead of EDF's new Economic Analysis Hub, and editor of EDF's Economics Discussion Paper (EDP) series. I am also a member of the Climate Action Teams (CAT) initiative and part of the Management Team of the RESET Network - Solutions for South-led just energy transitions. Previously, I was a Post-doctoral Fellow, Labor Economist at EDF.
My background combines Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics, and quantitative economy-wide modeling. My current research focuses on Environmental Economics from a Macroeconomics perspective. Much of my work relates to understanding the effects of implementing carbon pricing or other environmental policies on the economy as a whole and the labor market.
My background combines Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics, and quantitative economy-wide modeling. My current research focuses on Environmental Economics from a Macroeconomics perspective. Much of my work relates to understanding the effects of implementing carbon pricing or other environmental policies on the economy as a whole and the labor market.
Recently, I have been focusing on power system transformations, their labor market implications, and the broader economic impacts of clean energy policies. I have also started to work on understanding the effects of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in developing countries.
Recently, I have been focusing on power system transformations, their labor market implications, and the broader economic impacts of clean energy policies. I have also started to work on understanding the effects of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in developing countries.
What's new?
What's new?
Three Continents, One Summer: Cape Town, Lisbon, Santiago — June–August 2026
Three Continents, One Summer: Cape Town, Lisbon, Santiago — June–August 2026
Cape Town in June. Lisbon in July. Santiago last week. Three continents in one summer, and the same lesson at every stop: the energy transition advances at the speed of the connections we build.
Cape Town in June. Lisbon in July. Santiago last week. Three continents in one summer, and the same lesson at every stop: the energy transition advances at the speed of the connections we build.
IEW 2026 — Cape Town and Stellenbosch, June. At the International Energy Workshop, where the RESET Network was a Gold Sponsor, I presented the network and moderated our RESET Lunch Panel with Mark Swilling (Stellenbosch University), Philip Kofi Adom (Ashesi University and University of the Witwatersrand), and Gregory Ireland (University of Cape Town), asking whether just transition, climate finance, and power-system modeling can share the same room. Two days later, RESET and SAPEM — the South African Platform for Energy Modellers — co-hosted an evening on Just Energy Transitions at STIAS in Stellenbosch, hosted by Reza Daniels. What came back from the room was clear: an African research agenda should start from the questions local researchers actually care about, not from a model or a tool, with the strongest energy around making justice and equity Africa-centric and measurable inside our models, and around the macroeconomic and financial side of just transitions — carbon-pricing revenue, fiscal space, external balances, and labor. Read more.
IEW 2026 — Cape Town and Stellenbosch, June. At the International Energy Workshop, where the RESET Network was a Gold Sponsor, I presented the network and moderated our RESET Lunch Panel with Mark Swilling (Stellenbosch University), Philip Kofi Adom (Ashesi University and University of the Witwatersrand), and Gregory Ireland (University of Cape Town), asking whether just transition, climate finance, and power-system modeling can share the same room. Two days later, RESET and SAPEM — the South African Platform for Energy Modellers — co-hosted an evening on Just Energy Transitions at STIAS in Stellenbosch, hosted by Reza Daniels. What came back from the room was clear: an African research agenda should start from the questions local researchers actually care about, not from a model or a tool, with the strongest energy around making justice and equity Africa-centric and measurable inside our models, and around the macroeconomic and financial side of just transitions — carbon-pricing revenue, fiscal space, external balances, and labor. Read more.
WCERE 2026 — Nova SBE, Carcavelos (Lisbon), June 29–July 3. I co-chaired the session "Beyond GWP: Economically Grounded Exchange Rates for Superpollutants in Global Carbon Markets" with Kristina Mohlin, featuring Thomas Sterner, Christopher Costello, Thomas Stoerk, and Pedro Martins Barata, and moderated the panel that followed. GWP100 has become the de facto exchange rate across greenhouse gases — but is it the right one? Our work derives exchange rates from the ratio of social costs, and finds that staying with GWP100 costs relatively little in welfare terms, while GWP20 is far more distortionary. Earlier in the week, at the pre-WCERE workshop "Cross-Border Coordination and Cooperation in Regulated Carbon Markets" organized by Kristina Mohlin, I moderated a panel on the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets with Pedro Martins Barata, Pete Harrison, and Arathi Rao. AERE also named EDF Chief Economist Christopher Costello a 2026 Fellow — a proud moment for all of us at EDF.
WCERE 2026 — Nova SBE, Carcavelos (Lisbon), June 29–July 3. I co-chaired the session "Beyond GWP: Economically Grounded Exchange Rates for Superpollutants in Global Carbon Markets" with Kristina Mohlin, featuring Thomas Sterner, Christopher Costello, Thomas Stoerk, and Pedro Martins Barata, and moderated the panel that followed. GWP100 has become the de facto exchange rate across greenhouse gases — but is it the right one? Our work derives exchange rates from the ratio of social costs, and finds that staying with GWP100 costs relatively little in welfare terms, while GWP20 is far more distortionary. Earlier in the week, at the pre-WCERE workshop "Cross-Border Coordination and Cooperation in Regulated Carbon Markets" organized by Kristina Mohlin, I moderated a panel on the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets with Pedro Martins Barata, Pete Harrison, and Arathi Rao. AERE also named EDF Chief Economist Christopher Costello a 2026 Fellow — a proud moment for all of us at EDF.
47th IAEE International Conference and RESET week — Santiago, Chile, late July. I moderated the RESET Network Special Concurrent Session, "Clean Energy Pathways for a Global South Just Transition: Evidence from the MCET Network," with Rodrigo Bórquez N. (RESET), Manuel Portilla Paveri (Vinken), Paola Acevedo Alvarado (Sustenta Honduras), and Tarun Sharma (IIT Roorkee): five studies, one shared open-source platform, and a finding that should reshape how we talk about ambition — most power sector decarbonization is cheaper than we assume, and the hard questions are about who bears the costs of what remains. I also presented my own research on environmental policies and informality in Mexico, because in most of the Global South the just transition question is not only what happens to formal jobs, but what happens to everyone else. After the conference, RESET members from India, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa gathered for a workshop that was, for me, the heart of the week: colleagues who had known each other's papers finally knew each other, and the conversation kept returning to one conviction — the binding constraint is rarely the model, it is the pathway from analysis to decision, and that pathway is built on relationships sustained over years, not single studies. The week closed with our public seminar at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, "Cooperative Research, Evidence-Based Policy: The Global South Enabling its Just Transition," welcomed by Nicolás Lobos, with María José García Cabello (Ministerio de Energía), Nicolás Cerón Moscoso (Ministerio de Economía), and Matías Cáceres Habit (CLG Chile) joining RESET members across two panels moderated by Juan Pablo Montero (PUC), and Mlondi Ndovela closing with an invitation to keep building bridges between academia, government, and the private sector. That, in the end, is what RESET stands for: research built in the South, validated internationally, and owned locally. Read more.
47th IAEE International Conference and RESET week — Santiago, Chile, late July. I moderated the RESET Network Special Concurrent Session, "Clean Energy Pathways for a Global South Just Transition: Evidence from the MCET Network," with Rodrigo Bórquez N. (RESET), Manuel Portilla Paveri (Vinken), Paola Acevedo Alvarado (Sustenta Honduras), and Tarun Sharma (IIT Roorkee): five studies, one shared open-source platform, and a finding that should reshape how we talk about ambition — most power sector decarbonization is cheaper than we assume, and the hard questions are about who bears the costs of what remains. I also presented my own research on environmental policies and informality in Mexico, because in most of the Global South the just transition question is not only what happens to formal jobs, but what happens to everyone else. After the conference, RESET members from India, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa gathered for a workshop that was, for me, the heart of the week: colleagues who had known each other's papers finally knew each other, and the conversation kept returning to one conviction — the binding constraint is rarely the model, it is the pathway from analysis to decision, and that pathway is built on relationships sustained over years, not single studies. The week closed with our public seminar at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, "Cooperative Research, Evidence-Based Policy: The Global South Enabling its Just Transition," welcomed by Nicolás Lobos, with María José García Cabello (Ministerio de Energía), Nicolás Cerón Moscoso (Ministerio de Economía), and Matías Cáceres Habit (CLG Chile) joining RESET members across two panels moderated by Juan Pablo Montero (PUC), and Mlondi Ndovela closing with an invitation to keep building bridges between academia, government, and the private sector. That, in the end, is what RESET stands for: research built in the South, validated internationally, and owned locally. Read more.
Open letter on New York Cap-and-Invest and the CLCPA — April 30, 2026
Open letter on New York Cap-and-Invest and the CLCPA — April 30, 2026
I joined leading environmental and energy economists in signing an open letter urging Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature to advance an economy-wide cap-and-invest program as soon as possible as a centerpiece of implementing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The letter underscores that pricing emissions is the most cost-effective way to reduce them, and that reinvesting program revenues can ensure consumers realize net benefits while accelerating the transition to clean energy and lowering energy costs for households and businesses. Co-signatories include economists from EDF, Cornell University, Columbia University, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, Williams College, and Resources for the Future. See EDF's press release for more.
I joined leading environmental and energy economists in signing an open letter urging Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature to advance an economy-wide cap-and-invest program as soon as possible as a centerpiece of implementing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The letter underscores that pricing emissions is the most cost-effective way to reduce them, and that reinvesting program revenues can ensure consumers realize net benefits while accelerating the transition to clean energy and lowering energy costs for households and businesses. Co-signatories include economists from EDF, Cornell University, Columbia University, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, Williams College, and Resources for the Future. See EDF's press release for more.
"Overcoming five key challenges to make the energy transition a just labor transition" in Nature Communications with Sharan Burrow, Shouvik Chakraborty, Reza Daniels, Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, Helena Garcia, Raphael Heffron, Michael Jakob, Markus Janser, Suzi Kerr, Catherine Leining, Dave Maré, Mauro Pucheta, Daniel Raimi, Mandy Rambharos, Euan Richardson, Marcela Tarazona, and Alessio Terzi,
"Overcoming five key challenges to make the energy transition a just labor transition" in Nature Communications with Sharan Burrow, Shouvik Chakraborty, Reza Daniels, Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, Helena Garcia, Raphael Heffron, Michael Jakob, Markus Janser, Suzi Kerr, Catherine Leining, Dave Maré, Mauro Pucheta, Daniel Raimi, Mandy Rambharos, Euan Richardson, Marcela Tarazona, and Alessio Terzi,
I presented our commentary at the ARNECC Paper Talks — Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Series, hosted by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT II). The session explored how the five-challenges framework applies to the ASEAN context, with particular focus on Indonesia and Vietnam's JETP implementation, informal workforce inclusion, and measuring progress through the Just Labor Transition Progress Scale. The discussion highlighted the importance of tailored, context-specific policies and South-South knowledge exchange — connecting directly to work underway through the RESET Network. Read ACE's full write-up here. (Recording)
I presented our commentary at the ARNECC Paper Talks — Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Series, hosted by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT II). The session explored how the five-challenges framework applies to the ASEAN context, with particular focus on Indonesia and Vietnam's JETP implementation, informal workforce inclusion, and measuring progress through the Just Labor Transition Progress Scale. The discussion highlighted the importance of tailored, context-specific policies and South-South knowledge exchange — connecting directly to work underway through the RESET Network. Read ACE's full write-up here. (Recording)
Canada's methane opportunity and Canadian jobs — new Market Forces blog post, February 20, 2026
Canada's methane opportunity and Canadian jobs — new Market Forces blog post, February 20, 2026
Our Market Forces blog post "Canada's Methane Opportunity and Canadian Jobs Hinge on Strong Alberta Implementation of Federal Methane Rules" examines how Alberta's participation is key to unlocking the full economic opportunity of the federal methane rules — including approximately 7,522 jobs in Alberta alone. With Ari Pottens, Christine Gerbode, and Juan Moreno-Cruz (University of Waterloo).
Our Market Forces blog post "Canada's Methane Opportunity and Canadian Jobs Hinge on Strong Alberta Implementation of Federal Methane Rules" examines how Alberta's participation is key to unlocking the full economic opportunity of the federal methane rules — including approximately 7,522 jobs in Alberta alone. With Ari Pottens, Christine Gerbode, and Juan Moreno-Cruz (University of Waterloo).
Government of Canada cites our methane jobs analysis in final Enhanced Methane Regulations — December 16, 2025
Government of Canada cites our methane jobs analysis in final Enhanced Methane Regulations — December 16, 2025
When Minister Julie Dabrusin announced Canada's final Enhanced Methane Regulations and Landfill Methane Regulations as a pillar of Budget 2025's Climate Competitiveness Strategy, the Government of Canada's news release pointed to our analysis as the independent estimate that compliance actions could create approximately 34,000 jobs in Canada between 2027 and 2040, linking directly to our EDF Market Forces post "Canada's 34,000-Job Opportunity" with Ari Pottens, Maureen Lackner, and Chi Chia (Gina) Chen. Prime Minister Mark Carney also highlighted the figure on social media, noting that Canada's new methane measures could create nearly 35,000 new careers in the field by 2040. Seeing our employment numbers carried from a working paper into a federal announcement — and then into the Prime Minister's own framing of the policy — is exactly the bridge from analysis to decision that this work is built for.
When Minister Julie Dabrusin announced Canada's final Enhanced Methane Regulations and Landfill Methane Regulations as a pillar of Budget 2025's Climate Competitiveness Strategy, the Government of Canada's news release pointed to our analysis as the independent estimate that compliance actions could create approximately 34,000 jobs in Canada between 2027 and 2040, linking directly to our EDF Market Forces post "Canada's 34,000-Job Opportunity" with Ari Pottens, Maureen Lackner, and Chi Chia (Gina) Chen. Prime Minister Mark Carney also highlighted the figure on social media, noting that Canada's new methane measures could create nearly 35,000 new careers in the field by 2040. Seeing our employment numbers carried from a working paper into a federal announcement — and then into the Prime Minister's own framing of the policy — is exactly the bridge from analysis to decision that this work is built for.
Explore More: View the Full News Archive for all seminars, presentations, and the complete list of posts on the Media Page.
Explore More: View the Full News Archive for all seminars, presentations, and the complete list of posts on the Media Page.
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