The film presents a range of possibilities on Dorjee's motivation and leaves the audience to decide whether they think he is doing it for the money, for the environment or both. Immediately after his first success, very early in the film, Dorjee himself describes the dichotomy of his business model as: "the more forests we save, the more money we make". At the first Bali meeting, his company manages to sign up the "between 300 and 500 million tonnes of carbon credits" from the three Indonesian provinces. Dorjee then spends the rest of the film attempting to find investors to buy these carbon credits. At the NY hedge fund meeting he says "I've always had an abiding passion for conservation but I could never work out how to make it profitable. When the Kyoto process came through, there was a way to 1. a way to stop climate change and 2. make money, so I started looking really closely". This is a very clear statement about his intentions and financial objectives.

His parents believe he is not driven by financial gain alone, and by the time his father says this in the film, it's clear that what Dorjee is doing is by no means an easy way to make money. His father says "if Dorjee wanted a comfortable life, he would have found an easier way of doing it". This is a valid point and including it half-way through the film creates food for thought for the audience. Hopefully they are thinking: what are his intentions? How clever is he, really? He has invested his own money, and to date, he has not made a cent. Will his gamble pay off? Will he loose everything?

In Bali, as the possibility of signing up Merril Lynch gets stronger, Dorjee is asked by a reporter where the money will go. His answer is another of those moments where audiences are asked to make up their own minds. We watch him, in close up, tell us that his scheme could be worth billions, but in the next breath he assures us that "our company does not take even close to a large percentage of that money". It's a wonderfully obtuse and vague statement but delivered with conviction. He then goes on to make the promise that "when you buy a carbon credit from reduced deforestation, we then undertake for about 100 years to stop that deforestation. So the vast bulk of that money will go to the local communities to prevent them from deforesting". Even after the deal is signed, worth between $9million and $400million, the issue of how much Dorjee will make is not finalised. To date, his company has not made a cent. All of the initial $9million is committed to setting up the scheme and employing the 1000 ex-combatants to protect the forest. We will continue to track progress on the deal, and Dorjee’s financial return, once it is known, on the website associated with the film – www.theburningseasonmovie.com