James Chang Wen Jie

Scholar background

James is an experienced sustainability professional who has worked across a number of soft commodities, partnering with a wide range of stakeholders to create progress towards sustainable value chains.

He is currently the Sustainability Operations Manager (Natural Rubber) at the Michelin Group, where he partners with stakeholders across Michelin’s supply chain to ensure natural rubber is sustainably sourced. In this role, he is anchoring efforts to transform the complex supply chain to meet emerging inflections such as the EU Deforestation Regulation and coordinates a number of smallholder farmer development projects across Asia. James also represents the company in multiple working groups on the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber.

Previously, James worked in Indonesia as Sustainability Senior Associate for APRIL group, one of the largest pulp and paper manufacturers globally.

He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree (First-class Honors) with a minor in communications from the National University of Singapore.

Personal statement

Global trade is at a major crossroads, and the only viable path forward is trade that is sustainable and inclusive. Seismic shifts are happening as countries and blocs adopt groundbreaking regulatory frameworks centered on ESG requirements for cross-border trade, and we can only expect change to accelerate. In this new order, trade and industry leaders will need to balance complex trade-offs between environmental, social and economic progress.

As a sustainability professional with wide exposure to the many challenges in soft commodity supply chains, I have seen how emerging regulations and industry requirements can have resounding impacts across the supply chain, on large businesses to smallholder farmers alike. To ensure these impacts are positive and inclusive, leaders and decision makers need to account for the many variables at play and ensure multistakeholder consultation includes all actors.

In these unprecedented times, I am glad to be pursuing a Professional Master of Business Administration, specializing in International Trading, at NTU's Nanyang Business School. The program’s broad-based curriculum, covering multiple facets of business and leadership, complements my technical background in sustainability and equips me to be a well-rounded leader that can drive sustainable transformation.

The Hinrich Global Trade Leader scholarship further empowers me to contribute the ongoing conversations and progress on sustainable global trade. Through the Hinich Foundation’s extensive network of trade leaders and scholars, I hope to accelerate my growth through the many engagement opportunities available. I also seek contribute to deepening the foundation’s already extensive human capital on sustainability and ESG expertise. This scholarship and the Hinrich Foundation network empower me to be a strong voice in sustainable trade, and I hope to champion inclusive progress for the good of all stakeholders that contribute to our global supply chains.

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