David W. Pearce

Who was David W. Pearce?

Professor David W. Pearce OBE was an Emeritus Professor at the Department of Economics in the University College London. He specialised in, and was a pioneer of, Environmental Economics, having published over fifty books and over 300 academic articles on the subject including his 'Blueprint for a Green Economy' series. His love for nature and his care for the environment resonate through all of his work—but at the same time, he was fiercely critical of environmental alarmism and sloppy environmental policy.

David Pearce was born in Harrow, London on 11 October 1941, graduated in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University in 1963 and then studied economics at London School of Economics from 1963 to 1964, and held academic posts at the Universities of Lancaster, Southampton, Leicester, and Aberdeen before arriving at UCL as Professor of Political Economy in 1983.

During his career he was the chief environmental adviser to the UK Secretaries of State between 1989 and 1992 — Christopher Patten and Michael Heseltine. He also provided advice to a number of major companies. He was a convening lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.