Partha Dasgupta

Sir Partha Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge. His research spans welfare economics, development economics, and environmental economics. His influential Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity (2021) has shaped global policy discussions on nature and economic development. At The Future of Science, he addressed the economic dimensions of sustainability and the relationship between human well-being and the natural world.

The Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, commissioned by the UK Treasury and published in 2021, argued that humanity has been systematically undervaluing nature by treating it as an externality rather than an asset. The review proposed a fundamental shift in economic thinking: incorporating natural capital into national accounting systems and recognizing that economic prosperity depends on maintaining the biosphere. The review has influenced policy discussions at the G7, the United Nations, and the World Bank, establishing a new framework for thinking about the economics of sustainability.