Paul Ekins


Professor Paul Ekins OBE is a British academic in the field of sustainable economics, currently co-director of the UK Energy Research Centre. He is a former member of the Green Party.

Political career

Ekins was a prominent member of the UK Green Party in the 1970s and 80s. He left in 1986 after controversy over reforms he and others were promoting to streamline Green Party structures. This group, known as 'Maingreen', was seen as a forerunner of the moves to reform the party's internal structures by a later group known as Green 2000.

Career after politics

Ekins has been a prominent green academic in the field of sustainable economics. He has also worked as a consultant.
In 1996, he set up Forum for the Future with Sara Parkin and Jonathon Porritt. The Forum says: “When Paul Ekins set up the Sustainable Economy Unit as part of Forum for the
Future back in 1996, he argued that ‘many of today’s environmental problems
are really economic problems in disguise, and getting the economics right lies
at the heart of any solutions agenda.’ He aimed ‘to show that radical moves
towards environmental sustainability are compatible with prosperity’.
This remains a central part of Forum's mission.”
He worked as head of the Environment group at the Policy Studies Institute.
He has worked as an advisor to the Environmental Audit Select Committee of the British House of Commons. In 1994, Ekins received a UN Environment Programme Global 500 Award ”for outstanding environmental achievement”.
Ekins was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to environmental policy.

Academic career

Paul Ekins took a Ph.D. in economics at Birkbeck, University of London. He became Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster, from October 2002 – 2007. He is currently Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy at University College London.
His academic work examines the "conditions and policies for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy".

Author

He is author of a number of books:
*