Talk 2: Scaling the green solutions of tomorrow
The 25th of January, Global Utmaning in partnership with the U.S Embassy to Sweden arranged the second breakfast seminar on the topic- Scaling the green solutions of tomorrow. We were honored to welcome Sofia Breitholtz, CEO of Reach for Change, Peter. R Dahlen, Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden, Christofer Laurell, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Public Affairs at Einride, and Erik Huss, CEO Husstainability. Moderated by Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, Chairman at independent think tank Global Utmaning.
The panel of Swedish and American tech and energy experts, representatives from entrepreneurship networks, agencies and academia has highlighted the need for innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship in scaling the green solutions of tomorrow. That the impact of climate change is severe is without doubt. Erik Huss, CEO Husstaniability asserted early in the conversion “we need knowledge, respect for nature and to change the system”. It was further held by Huss that “if you want to have a discussion where you reach a new intellectual level, we need to mix perspectives.” That is what happened at the panel discussion.The panelists discussed the capability of new green technologies, social entrepreneurship and impact investing, in reducing emissions.
Although they acknowledged the immense potential of these measures, the panelists were also aware of the possible negative impacts of scaling and the need for balance. In line with this, Sofia Breitholtz, CEO of Reach for Change mentioned how the global investments are heavily uneven between men and women. According to Breitholtz, “globally, merely 3% of finance capital is received by women entrepreneurs” and “currently the capital isn’t being matched to where the potential talent is” concerning impact investment. Furthermore, not only did the panel discuss the significance of green technologies, but also how people worldwide must come together. Peter Dahlen, Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden agreed, “solving the climate change crisis requires a whole of society approach — an ongoing collaboration between industry, academia, policy makers, and civil society — where businesses of all sizes play a key role in fostering innovation and scaling the solutions that will power the green transition.”
Collaboration is the key for making a green and fair transition possible. It is a challenging endeavor but Christoffer Laurell, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Public Affairs at Einride contended: “5 years ago, no one believed you could electrify heavy transport, but things change”, implying that even if certain targets seem difficult to reach, it is still possible to succeed.
During discussions the guests were able to ask questions about the different subjects. For instance, an audience member asked how the finance sector on a national level could assist in accelerating the green transition, which led to further discussions about impact investments. In addition, about power distribution and relationships, where every policy change on either a major or minor level is important in the transition process. Furthermore, another audience member brought up the complex discussion of nuclear energy, which led to a very interesting discussion with different views from the panelists. Even though the topic is both complex and has become politicized,the panelists provided a balanced and nuanced discussion with their various perspectives and working experiences.
The common thread can be summed up by a quote from Laurell “instead of repairing a broken system, we have to test something new´´. Both the guests and panelists were very pleased by the interesting and important discussions. Thank you for this time.