Dieter Helm

Sir Dieter Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College, Oxford. As the chairman of the Natural Capital Committee from 2012 to 2020, he has had an impact on both the Environment and the Agriculture Acts. And his apolitical status, has seen him act as an adviser to numerous Prime Ministers including Tony Blair and David Cameron. In the New Year 2021 Honours List, Helm was awarded a knighthood for services to the environment, energy and utilities policy.

He has written many books, most recently Legacy: How to Build the Sustainable Economy, explaining what it would take to properly maintain different types of capital, why polluters would have to pay, why the current generation would have to fund the necessary maintenance of our natural assets, and why we would have to save to invest. His other books include: Net Zero which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize in the Global Conservation Writing category, Green & Prosperous Land, Burn Out: The Endgame for Fossil Fuels, The Carbon Crunch: Revised and Updated and Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet, all published by Yale University Press.

Helm has provided extensive advice to UK and European governments, including The Cost of Energy Review for the UK government in October 2017 and for the European Commission in preparing the Energy Roadmap 2030. He served both as a special advisor to the European Commissioner for Energy and as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on the Roadmap. He also assisted the Polish government in its presidency of the European Union Council.

Helm is Honorary Vice President of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.