Banker takes unpaid leave to champion green cause
Ravi Velloor, Straits Times 1 Feb 10;
DAVOS: Do I need another condominium in Singapore to be truly contented?
That is the question Mr Pavan Sukhdev asked himself two years ago when he was chief operating officer for emerging markets worldwide at Deutsche Bank.
In May 2008, Mr Sukhdev, who ran one of the most profitable arms of Deutsche Bank from London, gave up his million-dollar bonuses to take unpaid leave and follow his passion for the protection of nature.
He now leads a global study on green economics, supported by the European Union and the United Nations Environmental Programme. UNEP's Green Economy Initiative includes the The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study, the Green Economy Report and the Green Jobs Report.
'No more pushing money markets for me, it is all about natural capital now,' says the 49-year-old banker, who owns a 3,800 sq ft apartment in Singapore's Arcadia Road, as well as sumptuous homes in London and New Delhi.
He also owns a rainforest 130km west of Cairns. That was a result of the guilt pangs he felt on account of his carbon footprint from the ceaseless travelling he did while based in Singapore some years ago as head of Asia-Pacific money markets.
'The only way I could give back to nature was by buying up land and growing a rainforest,' he told The Straits Times on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
'India had too many local hassles so I picked a 16.2ha site in Australia.'
People like Mr Sukhdev are weighing in on the climate change issue and influencing a rising body of thought that growth cannot be measured purely in terms of expansion of gross domestic product but must account for the use of natural resources as well. Appropriately, this year's WEF meeting was labelled Green Davos.
On Saturday, the International Monetary Fund used the venue to announce a multi-billion dollar green fund for financing the shift to a low-carbon world as it rebuilds from the economic crisis.
The fund, financed through additional Special Drawing Rights, could climb to as much as US$100 billion (S$140 billion) in a few years.
In December, the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen failed to find agreement on extending the Kyoto Protocol from 2013. There is no reason to expect that the next ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, will produce more concrete results.
The economic crisis curbed energy usage and greenhouse emissions, but also affected investments in alternative energy. Nevertheless, many top executives of global companies expressed determination at Davos to invest in low carbon technologies. Such sentiments came laced with wariness that rival companies - or countries - may be harbouring 'free-rider' hopes of cashing in on the loss of competitiveness of companies that spend heavily to keep their products green.
Despite the failure of the Copenhagen talks, one thing that was evident the past week was that there is no question that the issue of green economics and green business has gathered momentum.
'I am moving so fast,' says Mr Sukhdev, who turned vegetarian some months ago after reading that nearly a third of the land on earth is used to grow livestock for meat.
'The beauty is, people are listening and life has taken on an entirely new meaning.'
