Showing articles associated with Cameron Hepburn
Cameron Hepburn is Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford, and Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He is also Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme, based at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School.
Main area(s) of interest/expertise
Cameron has published widely on energy, resources and environmental challenges across disciplines including engineering, biology, philosophy, economics, public policy and law, drawing on degrees in law and engineering (Melbourne University) and masters and doctorate in economics (Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar). He has co-founded three successful businesses and has provided advice on energy and environmental policy to government ministers (e.g. China, India, UK and Australia) and international institutions (e.g. OECD, UN).
Why is Oxford a good place to work in research related to environmental challenges?
Oxford is a world-leading place to work on environmental challenges because these challenges are so interdisciplinary, and we have interdisciplinarity at our core. There is only one other (nameless) institution with the same college system that means we are interacting with people from other disciplines all the time, and the Oxford Martin School is a wonderful asset that brings scholars together, from whatever discipline to solve the key environmental problems that we face.
What is the biggest environmental challenge facing the planet right now?
Right now - the biggest human costs come from the horrific air pollution across Asia, which has death tolls that exceed many enormous wars and yet gets limited press. In the medium term, climate change is the number one issue. In the longer term (and right now), I am very concerned about ecosystem and biodiversity loss.
Despite the challenges, are you optimistic about our future?
Yes, partly because past data on human progress are rewarding to peruse, (check out ourworldindata.org), partly because human ingenuity is now more strongly directed at the key areas, and partly I am optimistic just because of my personal psychology and disposition.
Find out more about Cameron
