Biography

Pete Barbrook-Johnson is a social scientist, economist, complexity scientist, and systems thinker. He regularly uses research methods such as agent-based modelling and systems mapping in his applied environmental, energy, and public health research and policy analysis. He teaches on a range of undergraduate and masters courses, focussing on the economics, the knowledge economy, economics of environmental change, and the use of complexity and systems sciences in environmental issues.

Pete is currently a Lecturer in Social Economics at UCL, a Teaching Associate at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and an Associate at INET. He was previously a Departmental Research Lecturer and Senior Research Associate at ECI and INET, and Deputy Director of the NERC Agile Initiative. He was also the Technical Modelling Lead for the UK government EEIST project on new economic modelling of energy innovation and transition.

View a full list of Pete's academic publications on his Google Scholar page - https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=QQ0HPEEAAAAJ&hl=en 

Recent Publications

Sept 2025
INET Working Paper
Aug 2025
Journal
A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them
in Sustainability Science
Timothy M. Lenton ,  Thomas W. R. Powell ,  Steven R. Smith ,  Frank W. Geels ,  Floor Alkemade ,  Martina Ayoub ,  Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  Scarlett Benson ,  Fenna Blomsma ,  Chris A. Boulton ,  Joshua E. Buxton ,  Sara M. Constantino ,  Sibel Eker ,  Kai Greenlees ,  Thomas Homer‑Dixon ,  Kelly Levin ,  Michael B. Mascia ,  Femke Nijsse ,  Ilona M. Otto ,  Viktoria Spaiser ,  Simon Sharpe ,  Talia Smith
Jul 2025
INET Working Paper
No. 2025-06 - Systems thinking in UK environmental policy making
Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  Domenica Cox ,  Alexandra S. Penn
Jul 2025
Journal
Economic models and frameworks to guide climate policy
in Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Cameron Hepburn ,  Matthew C. Ives ,  Sam Loni ,  Penny Mealy ,  Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  J. Doyne Farmer ,  Nicholas Stern ,  Joseph Stiglitz
Jun 2025
Article
Tackling transformational change in climate policy appraisal: experiences and perceptions of United Kingdom policy analysts
Cormac Lynch ,  Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  Pablo Salas Bravo ,  Jean-Francois Mercure ,  Femke Nijsse ,  Jin Qin ,  Roberto Pasqualino
Apr 2025
INET Working Paper
Mar 2025
INET Working Paper
2025-08 - Skill and spatial mismatches for sustainable development in Brazil
Anna Berryman ,  Joris Bucker ,  Fernanda Senra de Moura ,  Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  Marek Hanusch ,  Penny Mealy ,  J. Doyne Farmer ,  R. Maria del Rio-Chanona
Jan 2025
INET Working Paper
No. 2025-01 - Technological progress at national level: Increasing diffusion speeds with ever-changing leaders and followers
Brendon Tankwa ,  Lucas Vazquez Bassat ,  Pete Barbrook-Johnson ,  J. Doyne Farmer
Apr 2024
Report
Power sector futures in China: A multi-model approach to understanding China’s carbon-neutral pathways and power sector reform
Arabella Miller-Wang ,  Hongyu Zhang ,  Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Yixuan Zhang ,  Pim Vercoulen ,  Femke Nijsse ,  Yuyan Weng ,  Simon Sharpe ,  Jean-Francois Mercure ,  Michael Grubb ,  Xiliang Zhang
Feb 2024
Journal
Economic modelling fit for the demands of energy decision makers
in Nature Energy
Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Jean-Francois Mercure ,  Simon Sharpe ,  Cristina Penasco ,  Cameron Hepburn ,  Laura Diaz Anadon ,  J. Doyne Farmer ,  Timothy M. Lenton
Nov 2023
Journal
How are climate policies assessed in emerging economies? A study of ex-ante policy appraisal in Brazil, China, and India
in Climate Policy
Jin Qin ,  Cormac Lynch ,  Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Pablo Salas ,  Guanyu Yang ,  Michel Ferreira Cardia Haddad ,  Roberto Pasqualino ,  Jean-Francois Mercure
Nov 2023
Journal
Sensitive intervention points: a strategic approach to climate action
in Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Penny Mealy ,  Matthew C. Ives ,  Cameron Hepburn ,  Sugandha Srivastav ,  Peter Barbrook-Johnson
Oct 2023
INET Working Paper
No. 2023-21 - Modelling labour market transitions: the case of productivity shifts in Brazil
Anna Berryman ,  Joris Bucker ,  Fernanda Senra de Moura ,  Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Marek Hanusch ,  Penny Mealy ,  R Maria del Rio-Chanona ,  J. Doyne Farmer
Apr 2023
Report
New economic models of energy innovation and transition
Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Simon Sharpe ,  Roberto Pasqualino ,  Fernanda Senra de Moura ,  Femke Nijsee ,  Pim Vercoulen ,  Alex Clark ,  Cristina Penasco ,  Laura Diaz Anadon ,  Jean-Francois Mercure ,  Cameron Hepburn ,  J. Doyne Farmer ,  Timothy M. Lenton ,  Joris Bucker
Oct 2022
INET Working Paper
Aug 2022
Journal
The Ethics of Agent-Based Social Simulation
in Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
David Anzola ,  Peter Barbrook-Johnson ,  Nigel Gilbert
View All Related Publications

Recent Events

05 Mar 25
@16:30

The Oxford Systems Thinking Hub

The INET Systems Thinking Seminar Series

Fireside Chat with Peter Drobac (Said Business School)

In Person Event
Peter Drobac
25 Feb 25
@13:00

The Oxford Systems Thinking Hub

The INET Systems Thinking Seminar Series

Reading group (Session #2)

In Person Event
So GE Headshots 19th June2024 0365
11 Feb 25
@13:00

The Oxford Systems Thinking Hub

The INET Systems Thinking Seminar Series

Reading group (Session #1)

In Person Event
So GE Headshots 19th June2024 0365
04 Feb 25
@17:00

The Oxford Systems Thinking Hub

The INET Systems Thinking Seminar Series

Fireside Chat with Monika Zurek (Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford)

In Person Event
Monika Zurek