Thessa Vasudhevan

Thessa is a Policy Fellow (Nature – Central Banking) at the LSE Grantham Research Institute, working on central banking and financial supervision in the context of environmental degradation, including biodiversity loss and deforestation.   

Background

Thessa joined the Grantham Research Institute after a range of experiences in research, central banking, and advocacy work on the rights of indigenous peoples’ in Malaysia. Thessa was a Climate Policy Analyst at the Central Bank of Malaysia, where she worked on a report with the World Bank exploring how Malaysian banks could be exposed to financial risks from the loss of ecosystem services and environmental degradation in Malaysia. She then joined the Centre of Technology, Strategy and Sustainability at Asia School of Business (in collaboration with MIT Sloan), researching the energy transition and political economy of coal in Malaysia. Before her experience at the central bank, she led advocacy work on the rights of indigenous peoples with the Indigenous Peoples’ Network of Malaysia. Thessa holds an MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance from the University of Oxford, and a Law degree from SOAS, University of London.  

Research interests

• Biodiversity  
• Environmental governance
• Environmental justice
• Central banking and supervision 
• Sustainable development