Green and Prosperous Land: A Blueprint for Rescuing the British Countryside

by Dieter Helm

Finally, a practical, realistic plan to rescue, preserve and enhance nature.

News about Britain’s wildlife and ecosystems tends to be grim. In Green and Prosperous Land, Oxford economist and Natural Capital Committee chair Dieter Helm shares his radical but tangible plan for positive change.

This pragmatic approach to environmentalism includes a summary of Britain’s green assets, a look towards possible futures and an achievable 25-year plan for a green and prosperous country. The bold generational plan assesses the environment as a whole, explains the necessity of protecting and enhancing our green spaces and offers a clear, financially sound strategy to put Britain on a greener path.

Helm’s arguments expose the economic inefficiencies in our environmental policies and thus highlight the need for change. Leaving behind the current sterile and ineffective battle between the environment and the economy, this revolutionary plan champions the integration of the economy and the environment together to deliver sustainable, eco-friendly economic growth. There is hope, and there is time, but we must act now.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Economics, Environment

318 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2019

About the author

Dieter Helm is Fellow in Economics, New College, Oxford. He is also Professor of Energy Policy and Professorial Research Fellow, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry as dust; reads like lecture notes. English Pastoral was far more vivid and convincing, perhaps because its author is an actual farmer and not an academic.

[John Oswald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amid the chaos of lockdown, pandemic, public policy being played out in the open, a new Bill is working its way through the Lords - the Agriculture bill. It’s the biggest shakeup of rural policy in 50 years. Brexit means leaving the EU’s common Agricultural Policy, which as it turns out is no bad thing. It’ll be replaced by a system of ‘Environmental Land Management’, governed by principles of ‘public money for public good’. If this sounds like Westminster jargon it probably is, but the intent and the framework is really promising. The intellectual and economic underpinnings of it all are to be found in Dieter Helm’s book. A bit like Anthony Giddens’ influence over New Labour, this is the eminence grise behind Michael Gove. Whatever you think of Gove, the new Agriculture Bill is - I think - timely and quite revolutionary, and is a very practical way to take broad principles of sustainability into action. We shouldn’t have to justify our environment in economic terms but sadly we do in a post capitalist economy; thankfully we have Helm’s clear headed wisdom to help quantify and give economic justification to sound environment policy. Uplands, lowlands, urban areas, coasts and rivers. All is broken down into blistering analysis of why things are dangerously broken and what can be done to change things. At times the prose is breezy and polemic-ridden and you wish you had more context, but you can’t fault the ambition and the sheer stubborn desire to make a change to the environment and make the most of an opportunity for change. This is an important book; the Agriculture Bill is a hugely important change. It’s going to take years, but I look forward to the journey. #guehennoreads #booksof2020 #booksofinstagram #environmentallandmanagement

[Snorki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An economic-focused analysis of the state of the British countryside in the light of increasing biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change. Dieter chaired the National Capital Committee, which looked at developing a 25-year plan to address environmental issues, and he explores a lot of the work and conclusions in this book. It is interesting to have an economic perspective on a topic that tends to be focused on the environmentalist perspective, as these things tend to be seen as pulling in different directions. However, the author makes a strong case for our current approach not making economic sense either - not just with agricultural subsidies, but with the costs of clearing up pollution, building flood defences and many other issues that we are spending billions on today. In some cases, we can address these more effectively earlier on in the process (e.g. pollute less), which makes both economic and environmental sense.
To be honest, I did find the book a bit dry in places, where he goes into details on concepts like public goods and private goods, but it's well explained for the non-economist, and the overall message is clear - the need to have a top-down integrated plan coordinating all the necessary elements. If that is genuinely put in place, we have a real change of achieving more sustainable economic growth and environmental recovery. But Dieter is also honest about the chances of this happening - it is going to require a lot of fundamental changes across government bodies and the private sector in order to achieve more integration and less focus on individual problems and concerns.

[Alexander Titcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing, pro-growth take on environmentalism.
I was introduced to Helm's thinking when he appeared on a recent David Runciman podcast and was inspired to read his work as a result of his vociferous argument for capital maintenance.
I wish I had read this sooner after it came out, as much of the content is now out of date, but much of the content has also made it into the Agriculture Act 2020 (public money for public goods) and the Environment Act 2021 (biodiversity net gain), so Helm is obviously very influential!

Unfortunately his writing style is a little too abrasive, and gives the impression that he is demonising UK farmers and tarnishing them all with the same brush even - as he states himself - they are merely following their incentives. He also skates over the downsides, lower yields, potentially more expensive food, many marginal farmers being put out of business. I'd like to see how these would be addressed.

[Max Collett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall has some fine ideas, and I (a conservationist) think there is definitely merit in the natural capital concept. I think the logic of “get the prices right and everything will work itself out” is a little too optimistic though, and glosses over the difficulty in pricing certain things (I.e. natural beauty) and ignores tipping points. It is also a little too agnostic in its end purpose for my liking, taking the approach that the market will sort it out once the institutions are set up. This may be true in some cases but I think other outcomes need to be explicitly prioritised and regulated. Is also a little dry at times. All of that said, I think the general thrust is some very sensible ideas, and I think we do need a stronger role for economics in nature conservation

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A how to save nature, but from an economists viewpoint. The author proposes a master nature plan and fund by making polluters pay heavily instead of individual taxpayers, a net gain environment, re-allocating land usage according to its best usage, connected corridors of nature, and many other ideas. How not to waste money on ideas that don't work, and how much money is wasted. He seems very knowledgeable and is aware of all the screaming about how it can't be done. But he is sure it can be done, and that we better start. What if we actually listen to people like him instead of politicians and lobbyists.

[Roger Morgan-Grenville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes dry, sometimes maybe guilty of making the some of the changes seem too uncomplicated, this is nonetheless a really important book to read. It is based on the work the author did for the UK government's Natural Capital project, so he has had access to the most up to date research, and fellow scientists. The overall point? That, if we stop messing up our five main ecosystems, the benefits will be economic just as much as they are environmental.

[Rich Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A frightening, yet engaging read. As a farmer, it fills me with hope and desperation. We are in the hands of policy makers now, I only hope they make the best decisions for the environment and the people who live and work in rural Britain.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read on topics that I had no prior knowledge about.

[Lucía · Rating 3 out of 5]

An economist's argument for the 25-year Environment Plan proposed by the Natural Capital Committee of which he is the chair.

[George]

Not always an easy read - for reasons raised in other reveiws. But it's good. Good insight into natural capital. A book about nature, economics and the links between the two

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many good ideas about going to the right direction, even if a little bit too much relying on the idea that the world can continue with capitalism as it is now.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as wider reading for my university Conservation module, and I ended up enjoying it far more than I expected to. Based on the title, I was expecting a dense plan bogged down with complicated terminology. Instead I found it to be quite accessible and was able to read it within 24 hours and still remember the main points for my exam the next day. One part I really liked is how the book is split into logical sections that all need to be worked on together to improve our natural environments. I also liked that the author was honest about the reality of integration between different government sectors and private industries to achieve the desired changes.

[Colin Maclennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book. To me the most interesting aspect is how much could be achieved by eliminating subsidies such as the Common Agricultural Policy the impact of which is entirely perverse. Perhaps this will be a benefit of Brexit. Perhaps. The book is a fascinating survey of the agricultural industry and how much could be achieved by making the polluter pay, by redirecting subsidies whose effect is perverse and making developers pay for damage to the environment.

Where the book is a bit disappointing is in the last chapter - the Plan. This is not a plan in any sense of the word that I recognise. It is more of a list of all the things that need to be done which left me with a feeling of helplessness in the face of a huge task. I wanted an answer the the question, "Where do we start?"