Dieter Helm

Dieter Helm works at the intersection of energy policy, environmental protection, infrastructure, and public finance. Natural Capital argues that economies should treat ecosystems and resources as productive assets rather than invisible gifts with no place on a balance sheet. Yale University Press issued Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet in 2015. Helm explains how accounting for renewable and nonrenewable assets can guide pollution charges, restoration, compensation, and investment for future generations. His approach is deliberately economic: instead of presenting conservation as opposed to growth, he asks what forms of development can preserve or increase the underlying stock of nature. The argument draws on his experience as an Oxford professor and as chair of the United Kingdom's Natural Capital Committee. Reviewers have praised the book's practical clarity while also debating the limits of assigning monetary values to ecological systems. The result combines a policy proposal with an intervention in environmental economics, intended to move sustainability from aspiration into budgets, institutions, and measurable decisions.