Pavan Sukhdev
Tyler Prize Laureate 2020
Pavan is an Indian environmental economist whose field of studies include green economy and international finance. Traditionally trained and experienced in global financial markets, it was his personal passion for sustainable development and nature conservation that has led to some truly remarkable work towards understanding the value of nature.
In his career as an international banker, Mr. Sukhdev helped shape economies all over the world. He worked with the Australian and New Zealand Banking group for 11 years, and Deutsche Bank for 14 years, where he is most known for his involvement in the evolution of India’s currency, interest rate and derivatives markets. With decades of experience in leading economics positions all over the globe, Sukhdev went on to lead several celebrated projects and firmly establish the regime of green economics within broader economic theory.
In 2008, he was called upon by Germany’s Environment Minister to lead the G8+5 study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). The Interim Report was welcomed globally for demonstrating the economic significance of the loss of nature’s services, and for connecting the economics of biodiversity and ecosystems with ethics, equity, and the alleviation of poverty. The final TEEB report suite had over 550 authors and reviewers from all continents, bringing to bear unprecedented focus on the economic and social importance of ecosystem services, as well as the true costs of their loss which is hidden by economic invisibility.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) then appointed Sukhdev to lead its major initiative, the Green Economy Initiative, to demonstrate that the greening of economies is not a burden on growth but rather a new engine for growth, a source of new employment, and a means to poverty alleviation. Sukhdev continues to support this initiative as a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador.