CIERP Alumni Perspectives: A Conversation with Mathew Lee
By Priyanka Upreti
It was at a field trip, organized as part of an environmental science class during his senior year of high school when Mathew first noticed what the systemic threat of climate change was going to be. Mathew credits his teacher, Mr Ross Olson, for arranging field trips which helped bring abstract textbook concepts to life and made him ‘see’ how climate change was beginning to impact his life and the community he lived in. He quickly realized that climate change was not going to just be a problem for the scientists to solve and he began to consider climate-related careers along with his aptitude for the social sciences.
Shortly after, he enrolled as an Undergraduate at Tufts University where he completed his BA along with a MALD degree from The Fletcher School. He first studied international relations along with environmental science before completing his Masters with a focus on International Environment and Resource Policy.
When asked which classes at Fletcher helped with setting a strong foundation for his career, Mathew pointed to a class on International Climate and Clean Energy taught by Professor Kelly Gallagher. Mathew mentioned that it not only helped in developing a framework to interpret the world of climate policy but also helped outline the architecture of how the broader climate finance and international development mechanisms were related to each other. He also emphasized that choosing International Negotiations and Conflict Resolution as his second field of study, even though not directly related to his work on environment, was helpful in preparing him to excel in the roles he took post his time at Fletcher as the applied nature of the courses helped develop his confidence and intuition in how to speak up in different types of professional situations.
Today, Mathew works with MSCI on their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Research Team. The team leverages data from a suite of MSCI’s ESG products and publishes reports on industry trends and challenges. MSCI ESG Research is probably best known for its ESG ratings, which are used to measure a company's resilience to long term and financially material risks on environmental, social, and governance factors to help investors make informed investment decisions. Mathew predominantly focuses on ESG issues related to energy sector companies.
Mathew explained that the engagement of companies with their ESG profiles has increased significantly over the last few years , initially from a growth in interest from the investment community but now also driven by impending regulatory requirements from the European Union and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On the criticism of the lack of consistency in ESG ratings between different service providers, Mathew responded that the variance is not inherently a problem and can be attributed to different methodologies and risk weightages adopted by different agencies.
Given Mathew’s experience in the sector, we pivoted to discuss trends in the energy sector, especially post the incidents between Russia and Ukraine. Mathew responded that both from an economic and national security perspective, countries are beginning to realize that an over-reliance on imported gas is not ideal. However, to deploy alternatives like more renewables the upfront capital investments required can be difficult to source in the current financial environment.
Mathew elaborated that it can be challenging to convince investors and governments alike to embark on a longer-term renewables project when there is already a crunch in the immediate energy supply. One can pledge to begin to build a wind farm today, but will only start to reap its benefits a couple of years down the line. In a similar vein, with competing economic priorities like inflation and countries still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic it can be hard to justify spending or subsidy policies that would further accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. For emerging markets this environment runs the risk of “locking-in” investments towards cheaper but more carbon intensive fossil fuel infrastructure that will be difficult to phase out as brand new assets compared to aging coal plants.
Along with this, there are supply chain delays that are impacting the completion timelines of new renewables projects. In the short term, Mathew thinks energy markets may continue to experience volatility in prices while we are also likely to see an uptick in global emissions.
We ended this insightful conversation by discussing Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month and what it means for Mathew as a member of the community. Mathew commented that this month is a great way to bring momentum to AAPI related issues ranging from highlighting the legacy of historically exclusionary legal systems to the portrayal of AAPI communities in American pop culture contexts. By providing a platform to the community to directly share their stories, Mathew believes that the AAPI Heritage month is a powerful way to help build a comprehensive picture of who the community is.
Mathew hopes that the AAPI month is used as a time not just to reflect on the past but also to look forward and identify ways to help the community flourish. On a forward looking note, Mathew added that he would like to see a more widespread representation of AAPI’s contributions today in the general awareness of American society. He appreciates being able to learn every May about AAPI’s contributions and challenges faced especially when they are about industries and spaces where the community has poorer representation. He believes that this visibility is a necessary first step towards challenging stereotypes and helping the AAPI community break away from any negative, self-perpetuating loops.
Mathew ended by sharing that he feels fortunate to be a part of the thriving AAPI community. He especially expressed gratitude to his family for empowering him to make the choices he has made to allow him to try his best to contribute meaningfully to the society. He keeps their stories of grit and determination close to heart as inspiration whenever he feels like he’s found himself in a tough spot. ∎
Priyanka Upreti is a MALD candidate at The Fletcher School, Tufts University.