Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, a Fellow of St John's College, is joint winner of the 2002 Volvo Environmental Prize. His co-winner is Karl-Goran Maler, Professor of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics.

The two winners are pioneers in the fields of environment and resources. They began their careers in the 1960s when environment was emerging as a global concern and, working both separately and together, they have made major contributions to the emerging discipline of environmental economics.

"It has almost invariably gone to natural scientists, so it is gratifying that the Prize Committee has found the contribution of social scientists to be worthy," said Prof Sir Dasgupta, who was knighted for his services to economics earlier this year.

Their work has been of enormous consequence for understanding the relationships between development, environment and poverty and have helped to shape the agenda for global development agencies such as the World Bank and international environmental agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol.

Professor Dasgupta's work on the economic theory of depletable resources, green accounts, development, environment and poverty began to take shape in the 1970s, when almost all environmental economists were occupied with air and water pollution problems in the North. However, Professor Dasgupta recognised the importance of environmental resources for poor countries. He led pioneering work on the economics of exhaustible resources in several path-breaking analyses. Professor Dasgupta was also one of the first economists to consider the role of natural resources in providing essential ecological services. Because of that insight, his 1982 book The Control of Resources became a milestone in the history of environmental economics.

Today (Friday 8 August) sees the publication of new research which highlights the importance of an environmental approach to economics.

Writing in the journal Science, Dr Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology and his co-authors describe the economic costs of developing natural habitats for human use.

Looking at five different ecosystems, including a Malaysian tropical forest razed for logging and a Canadian marsh drained for agriculture, the researchers conclude that the areas were of greater economic benefit in their natural state. Natural wildernesses have a variety of economic functions, serving as storm and flood protection, atmospheric carbon sinks and sites for hunting and tourism. Overall the loss of these functions were found to cut the economic value of the sites by 50 per cent.

Commenting on the findings Dr Balmford said:

"In terms of immediate 'bang for buck', directly challenging subsidy schemes is a good way to improve economic efficiency and the environment. The economics are absolutely stark. We thought that the numbers would favour conservation, but not by this much."

Image: Photodisc


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