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Oliver Taherzadeh
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. O.A. Taherzadeh
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- o.a.taherzadeh@cml.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-6144-9483
Oliver is interested in the environmental and social risks food systems face and drive, in individual countries and globally. His research explores this in relation to food consumption, production, and trade, using macroeconomic models and insights from across the social sciences. Oliver holds a PhD in the field of environmental economics from Cambridge University and expertise in global environmental footprinting.
Professional experience
Oliver began his research career at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), after completing a bachelor's degree in Environmental Economics at the University of York. His work at SEI involved development of indicators to measure the environmental burden of UK food imports and assessment of national and corporate policy convergence towards the UN SDGs. As an inaugural member of SEI’s Policy Advisory Group, Oliver led a review to understand and improve pathways to policy impact in environmental research.
After working at SEI, Oliver completed his PhD at Cambridge University on a Vice-Chancellor’s scholarship. His PhD examined sources of water, energy and land insecurity in global supply chains, for countries, sectors and food products. After completing his PhD, Oliver worked in Kyoto, Japan, as a Senior Researcher at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN). Oliver’s work at RIHN involved global environmental footprinting of household consumption, dietary change, and food trade, on biodiversity, natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions.
In the CML, Oliver teaches macroeconomic environmental footprinting methods and coordinates the Economics and Technology section of the Sustainable Development minor, an interdisciplinary elective module at Leiden University.
Research topic
Oliver studies pathways for sustainable transformation of the global food system with a particular focus on food trade, diets, and farming practices. His work employs and combines Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis (MRIOA), Material Flow Accounting (MFA), and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models. Oliver is currently interested in:
- The contribution of smallholder farmers to global food security
- Unequal environmental footprints of countries and consumers
- Spatial analysis of current and future risks 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 application of this work has involved reimagining the objectives of food systems through a post-growth lens.
Assistant professor
- Science
- Centrum voor Milieuwetenschappen Leiden
- CML/Industriele Ecologie
- Payró C.O.M., Taherzadah O.A., Oorschot M. van, Koch J. & Marselis S.M. (2024), Consumer resistance diminishes environmental gains of dietary change, Environmental Research Letters 19: 054033.
- Taherzadeh O.A. & Mogollón J.M. (2024), The hidden role of small-scale farmers in global food security. [working paper].
- Aguilar-Hernandez G.A., Taherzadeh O.A. & Tukker A. (2023), Lessons from micro- and macro-modelling linkages: example of linking LCA/DMFA and CGE model for developing Circular Economy scenarios. Leiden: Leiden University.
- Hoang Nguyen T., Taherzadeh O.A., Ohashi H., Yonekura Y., Nishijima S., Yamabe M., Matsui T., Matsuda H., Moran D. & Kanemoto K. (2023), Reply to Bawa and Liu: Want sustainable food? : Embrace complexity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120(48): e2317233120.
- Payró C.O.M. Taherzadeh O. Oorschot M. van Koch J. Marselis S. Koch J. (2023), Consumer resistance diminishes environmental gains of dietary change. [working paper].
- Hoang Nguyen T., Taherzadeh O.A., Ohashi H., Yonekura Y., Nishijima S., Yamabe M., Matsui T., Matsuda H., Moran D. & Kanemoto K. (2023), Mapping potential conflicts between global agriculture and terrestrial conservation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120(23): e2208376120.
- McGreevy S.R., Rupprecht C.D.D., Niles D., Wiek A., Carolan M., Kallis G., Kantamaturapoj K., Mangnus A., Jehlička P., Taherzadeh O.A., Sahakian M., Chabay I., Colby A., Vivero-Pol J.-L., Chaudhuri R., Spiegelberg M., Kobayashi M., Balázs B., Tsuchiya K., Nicholls C. & et al. (2022), Sustainable agrifood systems for a post-growth world, Nature Sustainability 5: 1011-1017.
- Taherzadeh O.A. & Kanemoto K. (2022), Differentiated responsibilities of US citizens in the country’s sustainable dietary transition, Environmental Research Letters 17(7): 074037.
- Lee J., Taherzadeh O.A. & Kanemoto K. (2021), The scale and drivers of carbon footprints in households, cities and regions across India, Global Environmental Change 66: 102205.
- Taherzadeh O.A., Bithell M. & Richards K. (2021), Water, energy and land insecurity in global supply chains, Global Environmental Change 67: 102158.
- Taherzadeh O.A. (2021), Promise of a green economic recovery post-Covid: trojan horse or turning point?, Global Sustainability 4: e2.
- Sporchia F., Taherzadeh O. & Caro D. (2021), Stimulating environmental degradation: a global study of resource use in cocoa, coffee, tea and tobacco supply chains, Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3: 100029.
- Taherzadeh O.A. (2021), Locating pressures on water, energy and land resources across global supply chains, Journal of Cleaner Production 321: 128701.
- Taherzadeh O.A. (8 July 2020), Tracing Pathways of Resource Use in the World Economy: An Analysis of National and Sectoral Influence across the Global Water-Energy-Land System (Dissertatie, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge). Supervisor(s): Bithell M. & Richards K.
- Taherzadeh O.A. & Caro D. (2019), Drivers of water and land use embodied in international soybean trade, Journal of Cleaner Production 223: 83-93.
- Taherzadeh O.A., Bithell M. & Richards K. (2018), When defining boundaries for nexus analysis, let the data speak, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 137: 314-315.
- Taherzadeh O. & Howley P. (2018), No net loss of what, for whom?: stakeholder perspectives to Biodiversity Offsetting in England, Environment, Development and Sustainability 20: 1807-1830.