Kumar Jegarasasingam

Making the case for Climate Action.

I’ve worked in finance for the bulk of my professional life, most recently in credit risk management with an international financial institution. In my experience, climate change is an issue that still doesn’t receive the traction it should – in spite of the imminent financial implications.

It was this insight that drew me to London School of Economics and Political Science and the Climate Change: Economics and Governance programme. I wanted to approach the concept of climate change from a multidisciplinary perspective – to broaden my own understanding of the issues, see the bigger picture and be able to become more articulate about the causes and consequences of climate change.

LSE was an obvious choice, as I had previously taken a programme at the school and I was familiar with the calibre of its faculty and their expertise in both theory and practice. That said, the Climate Change programme far exceeded my expectations in terms of the scope alone: from the science behind understanding climate change, the economics of climate change to an array of legal dimensions, we covered a large amount in five days.

Coming away, I have gained a good understanding and a level of knowledge that has empowered me to communicate climate change as a real and tangible risk. I would not hesitate to recommend the programme to any professional from any discipline who needs, as I did, to cover something of the science as well as the economics of climate change and is looking for a broad, multidisciplinary approach to understand all the issues at stake. The interchange of perspectives with fellow participants, the faculty expertise and the LSE experience itself are immensely powerful in broadening your understanding.