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As the need to take action to reduce planetary harm grows ever greater, interest is rightly growing in both living and investing sustainably. But once you decide to head down that path, how do you actually do it? Does it mean more recycling, driving electric vehicles, and flying less? Or does it mean investing in sustainable aviation, carbon capture technology, or another promising startup?

For a special episode of Julius Baer’s Beyond Markets podcast, we spoke to Sustainability Entrepreneur & Investor and 2016 Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg. Read the interview transcript below to learn how Nico and his family have brought sustainability into their lives.

Nico, when you retired from F1 as World Champion in 2016, was sustainability already something on your mind? 
“We always hear that to have success, it is important to have great focus and dedication. And that was something I was pretty good at. I was so focused on driving that racing car, and improving, and making progress; so focused on that next race and getting the best out of it, that I really didn’t think about much else. My mind was occupied with family and racing. So I had close to zero interest in sustainability – in anything beyond racing. My wife, on the other hand, was already very interested at the time. She was always discussing bio food and pushing no plastic. But I was a bit ignorant. So it’s something I really picked up right after I ended my F1 career.”

What came first when you started focusing on sustainability? Was it living in a more sustainable manner or was it taking a look at your investments and considering how they had an impact?
"After F1, something that I did quite well was to go out there, speak to as many interesting people as possible and find inspiration, because I really didn’t know what was coming next. And slowly but surely, I began to see this incredible opportunity in mobility. And we need to remember that the world of mobility is my home. There was this huge chance to change mobility for the better, and it was happening right then, by coincidence, just when I was retiring. The shift was happening. Tesla was starting to become interesting, and Mercedes was starting their sustainability business plan. All these things captured my attention.

I did a lot of psychological studies during my F1 career. Firstly, to become a better sportsperson and to perform better. But it actually taught me a lot about life. One of the most important lessons for me was the importance of contributing to others and to society, and leaving a lasting legacy. That’s a basic human need of ours. I was not very good at that. My whole racing career was quite ego-driven. So I made a decision that I wanted to strive to contribute more in whatever I’m doing. Not only for others, but also for myself, for my own wellbeing, and for the wellbeing of my family. I also wanted to inspire my children."

Looking at some of the investment approaches and ventures that you’ve become involved in, how did you decide what to prioritise and support? 
"The first area was mobility. I’ve always been fascinated by the startup world, and started to explore that via Mercedes. Mercedes made some introductions for me to meet key people and organisations. The first was Formula E, which is where I connected with Julius Baer. I invested in Formula E just after Julius Baer did. A bank investing in an up-and-coming racing series like that was bold. It was unheard of because there was still a high risk at the time. But Julius Baer had a strong vision even earlier than I did. They realised that electric mobility was the way to go, and that it was going to be here to stay.

Another area I invested in was charging infrastructure. Luckily, both investments have gone very well. These successes were the first indications for me that sustainability is something where you can contribute and leave a lasting impact, but don’t have to compromise on returns. On the contrary, the returns can be fantastic, you can outperform."

You started the Green Tech Festival to showcase sustainable innovation and create a community of global change makers. How did that idea come about and how are you seeing the initiatives evolve?
"All of this came about because of Formula E. I went to the Berlin race where I had the honour of driving the next generation Formula E car for the first time. I was the first driver to showcase it, which was a memorable moment. The race was at an airport. There was the track, and a massive, empty space surrounding it. A couple of months earlier, I had been to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where there was a green tech section, but it was quite small. I saw an opportunity there. So I spoke to Alejandro, who is the founder of Formula E. I said, ‘Alejandro, would you allow me to create an event around this race?’ And he said, ‘Sure, do it.’ I went out to search for two other co-founders who had experience with this kind of project, and we brought it to life.

The festival connects people, creates partnerships, and it really cross-sectoral as well. I’m proud of it, and I think we’ve been making quite an impact."

How would you describe your personal investment approach?
“In the startup world, you need to diversify a lot. You need to invest in a lot of companies because you know that 80% of them are not going to go very far. You probably have a 50% attrition rate, and 30% are going to be more or less okay. And then there’s going to be two moonshots. That’s what you’re going for. This is where you make returns. I primarily take a very long-term approach. A strength of mine is that I don’t get fussed up about the daily news. I prefer to look at a long time horizon of five to ten years. That’s been going really well. When it comes to sustainability, I don’t accept a compromise in returns. I’m investing for my kids and my grandkids. But I do have some strong restrictions. I don’t invest in arms, I don’t invest in tobacco, I don’t invest in oil companies. Those are firm restrictions that I set. But beyond that, I still invest very broadly, and not just in 100% triple-A ESG rated companies. That’s my approach. Of course I hope that we can shift more and more towards getting the best returns in the world of 100% sustainable investing. But we’re not quite there yet.”

You make the important point that people who want to invest sustainably need to consider where their red lines are. Did you sit down with your family and decide on your values? Was it a process that you all participated in?
“Our family is very much led by Vivian, my wife, who’s very passionate about sustainability as well. It’s nice to educate the kids and take them on this journey with us. We try to make them aware of certain principles. It’s a lovely process.”

Did you make an active decision and say, ‘The way we live at home and raise our kids is going to change – here’s how we’re going to do it’?
“No, it didn’t happen like that. Vivian had always been interested in this area, even before I retired. So it was always part of our lives at home. It was only afterwards that I started to take more and more interest in sustainability topics as well. It’s lovely to have a shared objective as a family – striving for more sustainability. It’s a cool project that you do together and that you include your kids in. It comes back to the idea of making a contribution, having a purpose in your life.”

A lot of the changes that we make today will be amplified by future generations. Is there a certain way in which you involve the kids in understanding the decisions they’re making and how they might carry their values forward through their lives?
“Sustainability is also about wellbeing as an example. Just yesterday we had our family coach join us because of course, as with every family, we also have some dynamics that are not 100% wonderful. Relationships come with challenges. The coach helps us to open a discussion. He always gives us some pointers and ideas, which are very powerful. Yesterday our kids met him for the first time and straightaway Alaïa, my daughter, opened up about one of the challenges she has in her class, concerning the relationship with her friends. I also offered my employees to book sessions with the coach. Two of our colleagues booked him and appreciated it a lot. This is sustainability in the form of wellbeing.”

That’s incredibly important. One of the things Julius Baer tries to work on with families is the difference in opinion between the older and younger generations. When you include your parents in these decisions, is there initially any resistance? I think your father initially had reservations about Formula E for example. How do you have those open discussions?
“It was great yesterday morning. I’m trying to engage everybody with the family coach. Slowly but surely my mom opened up, so we’re having nice conversations with her. Yesterday morning I said, ‘Dad, why don’t you come as well? He replied ‘Never ever! Why would I do that?’ But eventually he enjoyed it . It doesn’t have to be an extreme discussion. It was just a coffee and an open, relaxed conversation. I see this as a great starting point.”

Is there an ultimate goal for you? Is there an equivalent of winning the championship when it comes to the ventures and the initiatives that you support? 
“The wellbeing of my family is a big goal in the long run. Another goal would be creating a lasting and measurable impact with what we’re doing. Let’s see how far we get. And if I manage to create and contribute to my kids’ lives’, that would be huge. If I can inspire them a little bit on this path of contribution, that would be awesome.”

What are the main things that listeners should consider when they are thinking about living and investing more sustainably. What are the first steps?
“I don’t want to be the preacher. I can just say that for myself personally, it’s been an empowering feeling to be on this path and to dedicate some time every day and focus on this with colleagues, friends, family. So I can only recommend everybody to take a look, take an interest and see if they too can make some more progress, or do something charitable. I just launched Rosberg Philanthropies, which is our own foundation. We’re still exploring and collaborating with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Lab at Oxford University. I recommend everybody to nudge yourself, take a little bit more interest in this space and see if you can make progress in an area that lies close to your heart.”

Can you share a bit more about the foundation?
“So far the foundation has focused on green technologies and the environment. I visited Climeworks, which is the world’s leading carbon capture firm, near Zurich last week. My foundation supports a PhD student from Oxford, who works on a project there. We also sponsor the so-called Super Nanny Service in an intensive care unit of a children’s hospital in Milan. The parents are there day and night, trying to support their children. A nanny can bring such relief to both the kids and the parents. Long-term I would like to create self-sustaining projects, non-profit businesses.”

It seems like you have identified areas that lie close to your heart and relate to your personal interests. Just one final question: which areas do we need to be excited about when it comes to sustainable technology? 
“Carbon retention firms are crucial to help with global warming. What else? We’re electrifying the world at the moment, so batteries will play a big role. The energy density has been ramping up rapidly, but there is still some way to go. We need to make further progress.”