About
Astrid Kander is a Professor in the Department of Economic History at Lund University, specializing in sustainability transformations over time and space. Her academic work bridges historical economic analysis with contemporary environmental challenges, focusing on the complex interrelationships between economic development and environmental sustainability.
Her primary research domain is environmental economic history, examining the interconnections between economic growth, technological innovations, energy systems, and CO2 emissions from 1800 to the present across Sweden, Europe, and globally. She has developed significant expertise in trade and embodied emissions analysis, with current research focusing on the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism. A secondary research strand involves innovation studies, where she co-established a Literature-Based Innovation Output database covering Sweden and Finland from 1970-2013 to analyze policy impacts, collaboration patterns, and the economic significance of innovations.
Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on climate policy integration with trade frameworks, carbon accounting methodologies, and historical energy transitions. These works demonstrate her commitment to translating historical economic patterns into actionable climate policy insights, particularly regarding global trade implications for emissions reduction efforts.
Professor Kander actively supervises doctoral students, including on projects related to environmental innovation in the Swedish forest industry and energy transitions during the Little Ice Age. She leads multiple significant research initiatives, including a Swedish Research Council project on the Causes and Consequences of the Little Ice Age Energy Revolution (2021-2025) and the SWINNO 3.0 project tracking Swedish technological innovations since 1970.
Her public engagement includes regular contributions to Swedish and international debates through speeches, newspaper articles (including in Dagens Nyheter), and radio interviews. She has presented on topics such as comparing current energy crises with 1970s oil crises and participated in events like Framtidsveckan 2019 and Science and Energy 2018. Her teaching focuses on energy and climate history, and she has engaged in international academic collaboration, including teaching at the University of Seville.
