A lifelong commitment to climate and energy causes
Before her nomination to Country Director, Arum had been working in the climate and energy space, helping to implement projects for clients like the Asian Development Bank, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the United Nations Office for Project Services.
From a young age, Arum has been civic-minded, trying to make a difference in her community. As a student, she founded a still-running initiative with her friends called 1001buku, an organisation whose mission is to collect and distribute books to libraries all over Indonesia. She liked doing volunteer work and having a positive impact, values which led her to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where she took a position as a young engineer. “During my stay at WWF, I worked on a campaign introducing the issue of climate change and energy to the public, advocating against the use of fossil fuels and promoting the switch to renewable and clean energy. This was at a time when climate and energy issues were not at the forefront of public discussions. Many were involved in environment and conservation projects, even forestry. But climate and energy? Only a few of us were there,” she says.