Dieter Helm

Sir Dieter Robin Helm (born 11 November 1956) is a British economist and Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford.

Early life The son of Fritz W. Helm and his wife Ruth Rigby, Helm was born and brought up in Essex. His father was a German prisoner-of-war originally from Saxony, interned in East Anglia. With his home under Russian occupation, at the end of the war he stayed where he was, married an Englishwoman, and launched a mushroom farm in Essex.

He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating BA in philosophy, politics and economics in 1978, Nuffield College, Oxford (MPhil, 1981), and New College, Oxford (DPhil in Economics, 1984).

Career Helm was a Junior Research Fellow at New College, Oxford, from 1981 to 1983, then a Fellow in Economics at Lady Margaret Hall from 1985 to 1988. He was elected as a Fellow of New College in 1988 and was appointed as the university's Professor of Energy Policy in 1990, a post he held until 2007, when he became Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford.

He was a Member of the Ministerial Task Force on Sustainable Development, 2003–2005; Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board, 2003–2007; Energy Advisory Panel of the Department of Trade and Industry, 2004–2007,

Helm founded Oxford Economic Research Associates Ltd in 1982 and was director of it until 2005; he was also a director of Aurora Energy Research Ltd from 2013 to 2020 and has been a director of Natural Capital Resources Ltd since 2020.

The Carbon Crunch In his book The Carbon Crunch (2012) and in print media, Dieter Helm criticised efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through current regulation and government intervention, and the deployment of renewable energy, particularly wind power.

He recommended establishing a carbon tax and carbon border tax, increased funding for research and development, and an increased use of gas for electricity generation to substitute coal and to act as a bridge to new technologies.

Net Zero In 2021 his book Net Zero was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize in the Global Conservation Writing category.

Honours Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 2003 Knight Bachelor, 2021 New Year Honours, for services to the environment, energy and utilities policy.