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Nicholas Herbert SternBritish economist and academic
Date of Birth: 22.04.1946
Country:  Great Britain |
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Nicholas Herbert Stern: A Biography
Nicholas Herbert Stern is a British economist and academic. He served as the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003. He recently held positions as a civil servant and government advisor on economic issues in the United Kingdom. Stern is a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, and the Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE). In 2010, he was a professor at the Collège de France.
Stern was born on April 22, 1946, in Hammersmith to Bert Stern and Marion Stern. His brothers, Richard Stern and Brian E Stern, have served as Vice Presidents of the World Bank and Xerox Corporation, respectively. Naomi Opalinska is his sister. He attended the independent Latymer Upper School and received a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Peterhouse, Cambridge. He later earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Nuffield College, Oxford.
Nicholas taught at the University of Oxford from 1970 to 1977 and held a professorship from 1978 to 1987. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Chief Economist and Special Advisor to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He has written books on Kenya and the "green revolution" in India.
Work in the Government and Climate Change
After his tenure at the World Bank, Stern was appointed by Gordon Brown, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, and became the second Permanent Secretary at Her Majesty's Treasury and Head of the Government Economic Service in 2003. As the Director of Policy and Research at the Commission for Africa, Nicholas was responsible for the economic review on global warming issues, which resulted in the 700-page "Stern Review." He summarized the essence of the report as follows: "Climate change is the result of the greatest market failure the world has seen. The evidence of the risks posed by inaction or delayed action is now overwhelming... The problem of climate change is a fundamental failure of markets. Those who damage others by emitting greenhouse gases generally do not pay."
In his speech at the Australian National Press Club in 2007, Stern called for one percent of global GDP to be spent on addressing global warming, primarily through financing environmental conservation efforts. In April 2009, he published the book "Blueprint for a Safer Planet" on how to save the world and bring it to prosperity. In the same year, his popular science literary work "The Global Deal: Climate Change and the Creation of a New Era of Progress and Prosperity" was published, describing the necessary steps to achieve economic growth through addressing climate change.
"Where we can, we should aim for zero carbon emissions – because of population growth and the growth of the middle class in developing countries, who want the same standard of living that already exists in developed countries. Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by at least 50% worldwide by 2050. In wealthy, developed countries, emissions should be reduced by 80% compared to 1990 levels... The economic crisis provided an opportunity to lay the foundation for the future..."
Stern is a supporter of vegetarianism, once again in the context of his dedication to addressing the consequences of global warming.
