Lucy Shaw is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, where her research focuses on the political, economic, and energy security factors that shape global coal use and the policies and investment strategies needed to accelerate its phase-out. She also works on making energy cheaper, cleaner, and more secure around the world. With a background in investments, policy, and international development, she advises on energy transition investments in the UK and Africa and is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute in the Just Transition Finance Lab.
Her research focuses on energy affordability and security, primarily through two themes: the global coal industry and UK energy policy. Her work on coal examines the political and economic benefits coal provides beyond the energy system—including energy security, employment, culture, community, and macroeconomic stability—alongside its environmental and public health costs. She is developing a roadmap to help climate advocates and investors address the broader political and economic barriers to coal phase-out while advancing a more affordable and secure clean energy system. In the UK, her research and advocacy focus on market reforms and policies that facilitate investment in energy technologies.
Before becoming an independent investment advisor, Lucy held positions at Blackstone, the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), Boston Consulting Group, CrossBoundary, and the United Nations. She has lived and worked in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and several countries across Africa and Asia, bringing a global perspective that bridges business, finance, and public policy.
Lucy earned an MBA from Harvard Business School as a Fulbright Scholar, graduating as a Baker Scholar in the top 5 percent of her class. She also holds a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she specialized in international development. She received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Melbourne, where she was awarded a scholarship recognizing the top 0.1 percent of Australian secondary school graduates.
