An Interview with Steve Waygood

Why did you choose to study at Surrey? 

It’s not a great story! I applied to other universities and I didn’t get the grades that I needed, so I ended up applying to Surrey through clearing because they had an interesting economics course. I was living in Winchester at the time and Guildford was convenient. 

Could you talk a bit about why you chose to study economics and stayed on at Surrey? 

Before I joined university I was very interested in environmental issues, and the environmental economics module at Surrey was extremely innovative back in the early nineties. It opened my eyes to just how much of economics is leading to unintended consequences.

We can’t continue global growth in the way we are now. It’s interesting to learn that the economics discipline, over the few hundred years of its creation, assumed an infinite supply of natural resource - whether it was the underlying supply of raw materials or the ability of the atmosphere to absorb our waste. Although this assumption is convenient from a modelling perspective, the science of the last three decades has shown us how alarming it is for an economic growth model. 

I did a postgraduate certificate in environmental management, which resonated with my values and what I was interested in doing professionally. I then discovered that WWF was just down the road from Surrey in Godalming and I worked for them part time as an administrator at reception. The experience motivated me to do a postgraduate certificate in environmental management alongside my work. It was initially a masters, but my supervisor Walter Wehrmeyer gave me the time and space to convert it into a PhD – one of the first in the world on sustainable finance.  

I’ve done various other things since then and Surrey has stayed very close to my heart. In fact, I’ve been to five fiftieth birthday celebrations this year for people I met at Surrey, including two for people who were in the same building and floor as me in freshers. I also met my wife through someone at Surrey, so it has definitely shaped my professional and personal life! 

Not getting the grades for the other universities turned out to be the best thing for you in the end then?

I’ve made this point several times to my children to take the pressure off a bit. Not getting the grades I needed felt like the end of the world at the time, but was actually the beginning of a much better career. 

I’ve been lucky to get some extremely interesting jobs, and it’s felt like more of a vocation than a career. Understanding how the financial system works and showing how it is undermining sustainable development has led me to write global recommendations and policy documents. This work has been picked up by policy makers, regulators and politicians and has encouraged them to change the system. It’s been interesting to see my work have a tangible impact on the financial system. 

How has the continued connection with Surrey and your role as a visiting professor been for you? 

Surrey has been a constant support and I’ve stayed in touch with the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (formerly known as the Centre for Environmental Strategy).  

Teaching is always an opportunity to learn, not just through preparing for the lecture but also in the debate you have with the students. Often this exchange will help build new areas of thought, new arguments and identify weaknesses in the overall narrative. That’s what the cutting edge of academia is for – to test the boundaries of practice, identify the areas for further research and hopefully harness the academic discipline. It’s often a luxurious opportunity to study a big question for a long period of time, and one you tend not to get again in your professional life. I find that being a visiting professor while practising in sustainable finance means I can shine a light on what’s happening in practice, while learning how it can be improved. 

While at Surrey you accessed the Hardship Fund. Could you talk a bit about why you needed to do this and how the support made a difference?

My parents were going through a divorce. I was working as a care assistant through the British Nursing Agency to supplement my degree, so it was very important that I was able to drive to get to my various placements. Sometimes it would be overnight, sometimes it would be weekends, sometimes it would be between lectures. Unfortunately, I had a very old car, it was a mini metro, and it needed quite a lot of work. I applied for support to help me fix the car so I could continue working to sustain my education and way of life. I’m not going to say the grant all went on textbooks, but student life isn’t cheap and it’s got a lot more expensive since. 

What made you want to give back to the Hardship Fund? 

I like to think I’ve given back multiples of what I have given. I know how much of a catalytic difference it made to me and it enabled me to continue to study at Surrey, and so I know how difficult it can be. I don’t want to pull on the heartstrings too much, but at one point I was living off Tesco value bread, value butter and value beans so I could have a dinner for four pence. At the time they were all a penny each.

I believe there’s a sense of karma to the way the world works, and it’s important to try and express gratitude and repay generosity later in life. Whether someone helped you with advice or financial support, if you later come into a position where you can help others, you can pay it forward. The Hardship Fund made a massive difference to my life then and I hope I can make a small difference to other students now. 

Similarly, I was sponsored to do my PhD so to be able to sponsor students to do theirs is how I think it should work. Whenever someone approaches me to do PhD research, I will always make time for them - I’m going to regret saying that! Just as so many people provided space for me in my PhD research, I try to reach out to help. 

Could you give some advice to current students? 

The most important thing that I can share, as well as embracing all the opportunities that exist, particularly really explore freshers’ week, but it’s more for the end of your time at university – if you don’t know what it is you want to do, don’t panic. There are plenty of jobs out there that can pay your way in life for a while before you choose your career. If you really choose something you’re passionate about, you’ll never do a hard day’s work in your life because it will all feel like fun. I know I’m incredibly lucky to be able to say that.  

You can watch Steve delivering a lecture on sustainability at Surrey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37M4ru4CTk8