Adrien Bilal, winner of the 2026 Best Young Economist Award: 'Climate change will cost 50% of GDP by 2100'

Adrien Bilal at Stanford University, California, on March 13, 2026. CAYCE CLIFFORD FOR LE MONDE

On this March afternoon, the sun-drenched campus of Stanford University, with its oaks and eucalyptus trees at the heart of Silicon Valley, exuded a calm conducive to focus. Not a sound escaped from the economics department of the prestigious California university. That is where Adrien Bilal, assistant professor of economics and winner of the 2026 Best Young Economist Award, met us in his office, in front of a board scrawled with mathematical formulas. At 35, he seemed both outside the world and in it.

Outside the world, because in his studious, tranquil department, he is insulated from the turmoil of the moment and intends for it to stay that way: In these times marked by Trumpism, conflicts and trade tensions, the young economist would not comment on American politics. But he is in the world as well, because his research addresses decisive issues, starting with climate change.

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