David Nussbaum
February 2008
WWF Chief Executive, David Nussbaum talks discusses God, money and his passion for a sustainable life on Earth...
What do you enjoy most about your current role?
Grappling with the big issue of how we build a future in which people live in harmony with the natural world. WWF is rooted in the UK, but our work is about the whole world, not just one part of it.
What made you choose this role?
Even when WWF was set up, we were not just about ‘charismatic megafauna’ as I have learned to call big, cuddly animals. If you want pandas, tigers, whales and rhinos you have to protect the whole ecosystem that supports them. My work at Oxfam, Transparency International, and Traidcraft got me thinking about the international architecture. The world has to run, but we are not doing a very good job of running it in a sustainable away. So understanding all the influences that have an impact on this is extremely interesting.
So how do you think you are making a difference?
The difference WWF makes is seen partly in places all around the world where nature is better protected in a way that works for the local people, and partly in changes in the way people and especially decision-makers think and act. However, bio-diversity is still getting worse, and humanity’s footprint on the planet is still growing – so in one sense we haven’t yet been successful in achieving our aims. However, recent positive achievements include, for example, getting the government to commit to a Marine Act, which would provide a framework for managing our seas and coasts.
I do think there’s a big challenge for charities, especially those which are not so much involved in service provision: how do you measure your effectiveness in terms of delivering what you are passionate about? Things that can be expressed in, or perhaps reduced to, numbers are easier to measure, because you can add them up and get a total. But when you are seeking to influence business leaders, or government legislation, it’s hard to know what would have happened if we hadn’t done what we did. We can probably demonstrate we had an influence – we wrote papers, had meetings and made proposals – but it’s much harder to evaluate just how much of the outcome was down to our influence. But if we don’t try to influence the way the world runs, we will never achieve our goal of a sustainable future.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing charities today?
It depends what type of charity you are. For WWF, the challenge is how to maximise our impact and influence to create change towards the kind of world we want. How can we make the most difference out there through our people and financial resources, and how do we best connect with our supporters who give us money and participate in our campaigns?
Did your faith and your upbringing influence what you do now?
I grew up on the campus of Keele University as my father taught classics there. When I was little, there were only around 650 students, but it was expanding. The developers ripped up the woods I played in for accommodation and roads, and that affected me. Later I studied theology at Cambridge and Edinburgh universities to explore my Christian faith at an intellectual level, and then switched to accountancy: from studying God to studying money whilst still trying to serve God. I try to live in a way that expresses my faith and what I believe – you did ask - but don’t ram it down people’s throats.
How do you switch off from the day job?
A big thing for me has been to go away with my family. We have four children aged 23, 21, 17 and 15. I love places where you can get right out in the open, climbing mountains and walking along rivers, and enjoy views. Now the kids are older it’s harder to get them all to come along with us, but we try to find something that will appeal enough to everyone every so often. Earlier, when we had only one baby, I remember a great holiday around Scotland including the Outer Hebrides where we stayed with friends at the tip of the Isle of Lewis.
And what do you listen to?
Radio 4, the BBC World Service and Classic FM. In terms of value for money in getting international influence, the World Service makes a brilliant return. Music, well, it’s got to be Pink Floyd. If you go right back to the time when Syd Barrett was with them you can see how their music changed over the years. The highlight for me is the middle period of The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you Were Here. I spent the year before I went to university working as a floor and toilet cleaner in a psychiatric hospital, where I also lived in staff quarters, so being within 200 metres of 1,000 mentally ill people – who were mainly aging schizophrenics – led me to reflect on Syd’s drug-induced breakdown, and how the Floyd explored related themes through their excellent music.
Author: David Nussbaum
David Nussbaum joined WWF-UK as chief executive in May 2007, from a similar position at Transparency International. He was previously finance director and deputy chief executive at Oxfam, and in 2000 he was seconded for six months to head up the charity's operations in India. David is a chartered accountant who has also worked in the private sector. He was chair of Traidcraft for many years and is now a non-executive director of Shared Interest and Low Carbon Accelerator
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