James is an ESRC postdoctoral fellow at the Sustainable Consumption Insitute (SCI) at the University of Manchester, UK. Before beginning his recent position he completed a research project at the SCI where he examined how COVID-19 and the inflation caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are affecting Net-Zero objectives in Australia, Canada and the UK. A joint project between the Sustainable Consumption Institute, the University of Manchester, the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto, the research quantified the impact of economic crises on decarbonising the economy and the implications for a just transition. He holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) where his thesis analysed the politics of the electric vehicle transition in Germany and the UK. 

His research agenda examines the intersection of climate, fiscal and monetary policy, with a specific focus on national governments and central banks. He is also exploring the role of green finance in the global economy alongside the climate impact of food systems and professional football (soccer). He has published on these subjects, with more to come in the near future.