Ideas Matter

Dieter Helm: How Do We Save the British Countryside?

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Episode notes

Professor Dieter Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College, Oxford. He specialises in the environment, notably in climate change, biodiversity, water, energy and agriculture. The environment is one of the most important topics facing all parties in this election, and increasingly those on all sides are beginning to recognise the importance of protecting our climate from the oncoming crisis. In his book Green and Prosperous Land, Dieter Helm tackles these In this discussion with his editor, Myles Archibald, he talks about how we can leave the next generation with a better environment than we inherited, how we do that in a way that also enhances our economy, and why their fishing trips together in North Uist inspired the idea behind the book. "I don't think we're going to need so much land for agriculture. I think we're going to use less land to produce much more food, and actually better and more environmentally friendly food. And that means we free up the land - quite a lot of it [...] this is a world in which a lot of the land can be used for better purposes, and that is why I'm wildly optimistic about what we can achieve." In December 2015, Dieter was reappointed as Independent Chair of the Natural Capital Committee. He is also an Honorary Vice President of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. All the books discussed throughout this series are available at Apple Books, via this link: https://apple.co/ideasmatter For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy