David William Pearce OBE (11 October 1941 – 8 September 2005) was

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the Department of Economics at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and a pioneer of

environmental economics Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical ...

. He is known for setting out valuation techniques for natural phenomena, arguing that the environment is "under-priced" and that the benefit of environmental services may be calculated. His early work was on cost-benefit analysis, and the economics of pollution and natural

resource depletion Resource depletion occurs when a natural resource is consumed faster than it can be replenished. The value of a resource depends on its availability in nature and the cost of extracting it. By the law of supply and demand, the Scarcity, scarcer ...

, before these ideas entered the mainstream of the economic sciences and policymaking. Pearce was the chief environmental adviser to government ministers Christopher Patten and

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...

, and a convening lead author of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

Life and career

Pearce was born in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a populat ...

and attended Harrow Weald county grammar school, now part of Harrow College. He graduated in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

and then studied economics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He went on to hold academic posts at the Universities of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

before arriving at University College London as Professor of Political Economy, and later Economics. He retired in 2004. Pearce married in 1966 and had two sons. He lived latterly in Saffron Walden, Essex.

Publications

His publications include:- *
Works by David Pearce at IDEAS/RePEcWorks by David Pearce at Google Scholar

Honours

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNE ...

for Services to the World Environment by the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

(1989) * OBE (Officer, Order of the British Empire) (2000) * 'Lifetime Achievement Award' from the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, David William English economists Environmental economists Energy economists Academics of University College London Academics of Lancaster University Officers of the Order of the British Empire Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors 1941 births 2005 deaths Deaths from leukemia in England People from Harrow, London Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics