Author Archives: michael

In memory of Professors Subroto and Kuntoro Mangkusubroto

The convening power of meritocratic leaders

There are common learnings that today’s aspiring leaders may want to learn from both “Pak Broto” and “Pak Kun”: (1) embrace hardships and foster camaraderie, (2) integrity as a long-term habit, (3) nationalism and internationalism, (4) deep substance and wide interests, and (5) proven delivery.
Posted in Editorial, Energy, Indonesia |
Possible scenarios for the Indonesian energy system 2030

Bandung Scenarios

"Well thought out trajectories on how Indonesia’s energy sector could develop and take shape in 2030 can help inform and guide all stakeholders involved […] and help provide Indonesia’s new government with valuable input as it formulates new policies and strategies"
Posted in Business & Society, Editorial, Energy |
A brief review of a crustacean culinary experience:

Boston’s Lobsters

Emphatetic seafood lovers must time and again feel sad for their compatriots who are allergic to shellfish as they are denied one of the most beautiful delicacies that planet earth has to offer. Prepared properly, lobster meat is a perfect blend of tender-but-gently-firm texture, unmistakeable aroma of the seas, and a heavenly savory saltiness with the right dash of sweetness - all in that one bite of the white plump of meat just underneath its rugged and thorny exterior. 
Posted in Miscellaneous |
Academy of Management's Annual Meeting - Boston, August 2023:

The investment gap in energy transition in “carbon -critical countries”(CCCs)

Attracting sufficient investment for energy transition is enormously complex as it attempts to transform the largest and most expensive infrastructure built over centuries of investments across the chain in a very short time. Spreading the efforts too thinly across over 100 countries will unlikely produce the outcome at pace. This presentation proposes a research approach that focuses on a handful of countries, dubbed “carbon critical countries”, that have disproportionately more potential impact (negative and positive) in the efforts towards global energy transition and climate change mitigation.
Posted in Business & Society, Climate Change, Energy |
Opinion at the Jakarta Post

Institutional credibility at the core of sustainable energy transition

Indonesia’s fossil resources have helped brought it becoming a middle-income country. What got us here, won’t take us where we need to be. Whether or not the global energy transition will also propel Indonesia out of the middle-income trap heavily depends on the quality of its institutions. Carbon-intensive development can be leapfrogged, institutional credibility cannot.
Posted in Business & Society, Climate Change, Editorial, Energy, Indonesia, Miscellaneous |
Opinion at the Jakarta Post:

Sustainable Development Goals in business school curricula to help address “colossal global dysfunction”

Business schools need to equip their students (regulars and executives alike) with (i) the intellectual capacity to understand the complex challenges, dilemmas, trade-offs, but also major opportunities in the broader business environment; (ii) the moral compass in guiding their future decisions; and (iii) the skillsets to deliver the required (business) outcomes.
Posted in Business & Society, Editorial |
T20 Indonesia 2022 Policy Brief:

A climate change investment treaty amongst carbon-critical countries

The unprecedented investment gap in energy transition requires an additional US$2 trillion/year more investment in energy systems. This investment must be focused on carbon-critical countries if the world is to see change at the required scale and pace. A growing number of private and public investors are persuaded, but they lack the certainty necessary to justify taking the economic and political risks inherent in energy-transition investment. This paper proposes a novel approach to a proven concept of more than 3,000 investment treaties currently operational: a Climate Change Investment Treaty, focused on protecting carbon-critical investment in carbon-critical countries to help navigate the wicked problem that is energy transition.
Posted in Business & Society, Climate Change, Editorial, Energy |
Opinion at the Jakarta Post:

G20 must drive massive and targeted investment ramp-ups amidst multiple crises

The G20 summit of 2022 has their work cut out. In our view this concerns restoring trust in the SDG-agenda and nurture its potential to align state policies for sustainable development and corporate strategies in support of the SDGs.  Before the leaders leave the Island of Gods, every communique they convey to the world will have bearings on investment decisions globally – and many would pray towards a more resilient world. After all, businesses cannot thrive in a society that fails and societies cannot be resilient where businesses blunder.
Posted in Business & Society, Editorial |
Contribution to OECD public consultation on investment treaties and climate change:

Simplifying the Pathway to 2030; an investment treaty exclusively for climate-related investment

This post provides a link to the full document of OECD public consultation on investment treaties and climate change. This (co)author's contribution is on page 103.
Posted in Business & Society, Climate Change, Energy |