Climate Economist & Sustainability Program Leader

Welcome! ​I am Valeriya Azarova — Climate Economist & Sustainability Program Leader.
I help companies, governments, and investors accelerate net-zero and carbon market strategies — moving from concept to operational impact.
My work spans $20M+ in climate investments, reducing COâ‚‚ exposure by 10M+ metric tons, and delivering award-winning clean energy programs in the US and Europe.
About me
I’m passionate about advancing sustainability and a just transition through data-driven strategies. My work sits at the intersection of applied econometrics, behavioral economics, and interdisciplinary collaboration — translating complex analysis into actionable insights for industry and policy leaders.
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I design and execute natural and survey experiments, leverage novel data sources such as emissions inventories, life-cycle assessment databases, energy consumption records from smart meters, industrial process monitoring data, supply chain traceability systems, and insurance records to:
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Develop decarbonization programs and market-based implementation strategies
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Build analytic tools such as Marginal Abatement Cost Curves to guide investment and policy choices
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Analyze environmental behaviors and decision-making
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Evaluate the effectiveness of climate policies
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Identify distributional impacts of climate change and the green transition
Currently at Rocky Mountain Institute, I lead large-scale industrial decarbonization projects that integrate market analysis, stakeholder engagement, and investment strategy. Previously, as a Visiting Researcher at UC Berkeley, I investigated the mental health impacts of environmental change, and as a Senior Economist at the ifo Institute (University of Munich), I led energy and climate economics research, taught at undergraduate through PhD levels, and collaborated with both public and private sector stakeholders.
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If you'd like to know more about me, check out my research, get in touch via email or schedule an appointment.
Selected Publication
We analyze European citizens’ willingness to take climate mitigation action with data on one-time donation choices from a survey of 15,951 people across 27 nations. Responses are explored with an interdisciplinary hybrid choice model that integrates principles of psychology and economics. The results suggest that only participants who are certain about the reality of global warming and believe it is largely anthropogenic have a significantly higher willingness to donate to climate mitigation compared to groups with less certain beliefs.