Investing in a sustainable future
Lucas Kengmana’s career is a crossroads of climate change and economics, where he is building an impressive résumé doing work with real world societal impact. What started as curiosity for learning ignited a life-long passion for climate change and a meaningful career driving investment for good.
Lucas Kengmana chose to study at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington because of its capital city location at the heart of politics, its reputation for academic excellence, and as he puts it, Wellington’s enduring promise of being “unbeatable on a good day.”
As it turns out, it was the right choice. “It was a hit on all counts,” Lucas says.
Lucas recalls his time at university as a positive experience—one that nurtured his curiosity, encouraged him to think critically, and to consider the impact he could make beyond the classroom.
“I had a really great experience as a student. Politics lectures provided great opportunities to debate deep questions with professors and students with a wealth of different perspectives. Economics taught me to think about human behaviour, policies, and the economy through models. Philosophy taught me to think critically about everything,” he says.
Lucas graduated with a conjoint Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce and Administration (Honours) majoring in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.
Where economics and climate change meet
Lucas’s passion for climate change ignited when he had the opportunity to work as a research assistant for Emeritus Professor Jonathan Boston supporting his work on international climate justice at the University’s Institute of Policy Studies.
“This awoke a life-long passion: climate change offered the perfect arena to apply economic principles, political and policy frameworks, and philosophical analysis to a major challenge that applies across society and the economy.”
He says at the time there weren’t a lot of people turning their mind to climate change, and this created an opportunity for him to use his multifaceted experience and build his career across many different roles in private sector, public sector and NGO’s.
Lucas’s experience is vast—he’s worked in government designing the forestry aspects of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, at an accelerator helping young entrepreneurs launch climate-focused businesses, and for New Zealand’s largest emitter, Fonterra, to develop ways to help farmers reduce their emissions. He is currently a Senior Investment Strategist with New Zealand’s largest investor, the New Zealand Super Fund, helping to invest in a way that drives excellent financial returns and strong social and environmental outcomes.
Lucas has found a way to integrate his background in economics into a career that also focuses on a genuine dedication to climate change and a sustainable future.
“Sustainable investment is a great fit for me—it lets me apply the complex finance and scientific theories that I love in a way that delivers positive outcomes at scale.”
Investing in a sustainable future
The New Zealand Super Fund invests on behalf of all New Zealanders—the government-owned investment fund is set up to help pay for the New Zealand Superannuation in the future.
Working in the sustainable investment team, Lucas’s role day–to–day is setting climate targets, developing plans for implementation and measuring and reporting on the results, as well as ensuring the potential impact of an investment on society and the environment is factored into the decision-making process.
For Lucas this is a happy medium, doing work he genuinely believes in that will have a tangible outcome for future generations.
“I’m passionate about my job because if I do it well, it can make a real difference for all New Zealanders.”
Advice for future students
Lucas is careful not to give universal advice to students, as in his words “it risks either being painfully benign or dangerously misguided”. But he is happy to share a quote that a professor shared with him, that still resonates with him today:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”