Oliver is interested in the environmental and social risks food systems face and drive. Their research explores this in relation to global food consumption, production, and trade, combining macroeconomic models and microdata on food system actors. Oliver holds a PhD in the field of environmental economics from Cambridge University and expertise in global environmental footprinting.

More information about Oliver Taherzadeh

Professional experience

Oliver began their research career at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), after completing a bachelor's degree in Environmental Economics at the University of York. After working at SEI, Oliver completed their PhD at Cambridge University on a Vice-Chancellor’s scholarship. Investigating sources of water, energy and land insecurity in global supply chains, for countries, sectors and food products. After completing their PhD, Oliver worked in Kyoto, Japan, as a Senior Researcher at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, advancing environmental footprint assessments of household consumption, dietary change, and global threats of agriculture to biodiversity.

In the CML, Oliver teaches macroeconomic environmental footprinting methods and coordinates the Economy and Environment section of the Sustainable Development minor. 

In Oliver’s research group, they are committed to creating an inclusive and open environment which nurtures critical and interdisciplinary scholarship, where everyone can thrive.

Research topic

Oliver’s current research seeks to enrich macroeconomic food system models with microdata on the activities and practices of consumers, companies and farmers, to generate actor-specific scenarios of global food system transformation. Within this context Oliver is interested in:

- The contribution of smallholder farmers to global food security
- Unequal dietary environmental footprints of consumers
- Power concentration and consolidation in global food supply chains

In addition to systems modelling, Oliver’s work considers how and for whom the sustainability agenda is framed, in both the food and development space, and what solutions or future visions for humanity are privileged as a result. A practical example of this has involved reimagining the objectives of food systems and economic recovery through a post-growth lens. 

Publications