The Chronos Sustainability Prize at LSE

Chronos Sustainability has joined forces with The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to recognise the very best in academic excellence and commitment to sustainable business, finance and environmental policy.

Starting in the 2022-23 academic year, Chronos Sustainability has awarded prizes to the undergraduate and postgraduate students whose analysis and recommendations are considered to have the greatest potential to make a positive social or environmental impact.

About the prize

LSE undergraduates undertaking the course GY326 (Sustainable Business and Finance) and postgraduates on the course GY420/GY465 (Environmental Regulation) are eligible for the Chronos Sustainability Prize. As part of their courses, the undergraduates and postgraduates prepare a brief on a key issue of sustainability significance or concern, explaining the relevance of the issue, summarising what is known about the issue, and offering policy recommendations to key stakeholders such as regulators, investors and companies.

The prizes are judged by practitioner experts from a mix of finance, industry, NGO, public policy and regulatory backgrounds.  Click on the link for composition of the judging panel in 2023, and 2024.

About LSE

LSE is a global community of people and ideas in the heart of central London. A specialist social sciences university, LSE is ranked third in the world in the QS Subject Rankings 2022 (Social Sciences and Management) and is the top university in London in the Complete University Guide 2023. LSE's motto "rerum cognoscere causas" means "to know the causes of things". It was chosen to support the School's founding purpose, "for the betterment of society".

  • Providing students with the knowledge, frameworks, and critical thinking skills to dissect complex policy-related issues is a key objective of both our undergraduate and postgraduate environment courses. These prizes recognise the work that our students undertake and provide a platform to share their ideas with an audience of practitioners and decision-makers.

    — Dr Richard Perkins, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environment at LSE,
    Manager of undergraduate course GY326 (Sustainable Business and Finance)
    and postgraduate course GY420/GY465 (Environmental Regulation)

  • We established Chronos Sustainability with the explicit objective of delivering clear, demonstrable improvements in the social and environmental performance of key industry sectors. One way we do this is through showcasing and communicating the best ideas and the best solutions to the sustainability challenges. Through this prize we hope to inspire students to focus their attention on how their research can enable us to respond effectively to the world’s sustainability challenges.

    — Nicky Amos,
    Managing Director, Chronos Sustainability

  • These prizes are an acknowledgement of the fantastic work of the next generation of LSE sustainability practitioners and is crucial to aligning learning outcomes for our undergraduate and postgraduate students with the global challenges that we all face. The Department of Geography and Environment truly appreciates the vision and support of Chronos Sustainability in this important initiative.

    — Professor Giles Atkinson,
    Deputy Head of Department in Geography and Environment at LSE

  • We need to ensure that our thinking about how best to respond to the challenges of climate change and sustainable development is grounded in rigorous analysis and thinking. We also need to encourage students – at all levels – to think critically and carefully about how their work can help us respond to these challenges. These prizes are designed to bring these worlds together.

    — Dr Rory Sullivan,
    CEO, Chronos Sustainability and Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on
    Climate Change and the Environment at LSE