Anil Markandya Current position: Former Scientific Director/ Distinguished Ikerbasque Professor Year of birth:  1945 Homepage: http://www.bc3research.org/anil_markandya.html

I am very happy to present Anil Markandya in the Meet Top Environmental Economist series. He is currently the Distinguished Ikerbasque Professor and Scientific Director of the Basque Centre for Climate Change, Bilbao, in Spain (since 2008), was the Director of  Sustainable Indicators and Environmental Valuation and Applied Research at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan, Italy (2005-2008); lead economist at the World Bank (2000-2004); and held various positions at top universities (University of Bath, London School of Economics, Harvard University, Berkeley, Princeton).

Anil Markandya is a researcher who has been working all of his life on the interaction between (mostly applied) environmental economics and policy advise. In terms of research he has published more than 290 scientific articles and several books, among which the `Blueprint for a Green Economy‘, co-authored with  Edward Barbier (and the first version with the late David Pearce), certainly stands out. In this book the authors were among the first to take a serious step towards understanding how economic growth and environmental constraints should be approached together to achieve a green economy. He has also been extremely influential on the policy side and has been an advisor or consultant for nearly all major world institutions (like the OECD, World Bank, IPCC, FAO, UN, European Environmental Agency) and countries. Anil Markandya has also been a lead author on influential IPCC reports (WG3, 3rd and 4th AR, and WG2 on 5th AR).

This is clearly an impressive record that one can only achieve with a level of dedication and effort which only a selected few have. Thus I am grateful that Anil Markandya took some time off for this interview and kindly answered these questions. I hope you enjoy this interview and if you do then do not hesitate to let me know!

Partha Dasgupta Current position: Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge Year of birth: 1942 Homepage: http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/people/crsid.html?crsid=pd10000&group=emeritus

It is my great honor to present Partha Dasgupta in the #MeetTopEnvEcon series. I had previously met Partha only briefly at various conferences, and thus it was a pleasure to talk to him more extensively during the Climate Ethics and Climate Economics: Discounting the Future conference in Oxford this year. Once you discuss with him you easily understand why it was he who pioneered the nexus on environment, development and economics; his works with Geoffrey Heal on the optimal extraction of non-renewables are the foundation stone for any resource economist these days; together with the likes of Kenneth Arrow he urges governments to cease regarding GDP as a measure of prosperity to more holistic measures like inclusive wealth; and he is one of only a handful of economists who dares to address the problem of the optimal population size.

During the years, Partha published more than 270 scientific articles and books like An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution, Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources, or the beautiful little Economics: A Very Short Introduction. For these contributions he was awarded a wealth of honors and awards, from several honorary doctor titles over to fellowships in the most prestigious societies, and was furthermore bestowed the knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. These honors are clearly well-deserved.

One meets few people in life that quickly leave a lasting impression, and I feel that Partha is one of them. Not only because of his vast knowledge that he readily shares and his quick wit, but also because of his character. I have found him to be extremely kind, modest and down-to-earth, which tend to be character traits that too often disappear quickly in most people that reach Partha’s standing. Not so with Partha, which makes it that much more enjoyable to discuss with him.

Finally, I would like to deeply thank Partha for investing such an extensive amount of time on the interview. I hope the readers will appreciate the insights gained here.

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Rick van der Ploeg Current position: Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford Year of birth: 1956 Homepage: http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/members/rick.vanderploeg/ IDEAS profile: https://ideas.repec.org/e/pva185.html

He is a research fellow in international macroeconomics at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.  He directs the public sector economics programme, and is Chair of the Scientific Council of CESifo.

He is former Chief Financial Spokesperson in the Dutch Parliament, State Secretary of Education, Science and Culture of the Netherlands and Elected Member of the Unesco World Heritage Committee, and has been on the board of various commercial and non-profit organisations. Previous academic experience includes Cambridge, LSE, Tilburg and Amsterdam.

He has published extensively on macroeconomics, public finance, political economy and resource economics, and also has an interest in the economics of culture. Publications include Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics with B.J. Heijdra (OUP, 2002), the edited Handbook of International Macroeconomics, and several other books.

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