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5

CLIMATE ROUNDTABLE - TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE

Once upon a time, only a handful of politicians, NGOs and

individuals were even aware of climate change. Today, the perils

of global warming are too obvious to ignore. Combatting and

mitigating climate change is becoming a part of policy making,

business strategy, and everyday life, as political leaders, business

executives, and ordinary citizens alike ask themselves how climate

change will affect their future, and what they – and all of us – can

do now to make a difference.

One such individual is Siddharth Hande. Hande lives in Chennai,

one of India’s largest and fastest-growing cities. With 4.9 million

people, Chennai’s population is already roughly the size of Norway’s

as a whole. Hande sees the environmental and economic challenges

of rapid urbanisation every day. For him, climate change is not an

abstract problem – it is something we need to face right away.

I met Hande in January during the World Economic Forum meeting

in Davos, where he presented the “Kabadiwalla Connect” project,

an online platform that allows local waste pickers to collaborate

with businesses and individuals to reduce the amount of waste

that ends up in landfills. Statkraft was proud to support this project

through an initiative with World Economic Forum that engages

young people in the climate issue. We share Hande’s view that

none of us can afford to wait for progress; as Kabadiwalla Connect

says on its website, “Sustainability starts with you.”

It is that mentality of accountability and action that led Statkraft

CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen to convene a group of business

executives, climate scientists and NGO representatives at the

second Climate Roundtable at Vang Gård. The roundtable’s goal

was to highlight the role business can play in combatting climate

change – recognising, as Rynning-Tønnesen argues, not only the

costs of shifting to a green economy, but also the significant

growth opportunities.

We are encouraged that a growing contingent of business leaders

and scientists share these views – and we are eager to build

on that consensus as we look to December 2015, when global

leaders will gather in Paris for the important COP21 meeting, and

attempt to reach agreement on global emissions. To paraphrase

roundtable participant and leading climate scholar Dimitri

Zenghelis, “Change happens when momentum increases, and

enough people understand that change is inevitable.” We believe

business has a responsibility to help drive that momentum.

Change doesn’t happen through scaremongering. Change happens

when we realise that actions can improve our lives, our business,

or our country; when we produce our own green electricity, when a

business cuts costs by reducing waste, or when politicians dare to

take bold steps.

We believe we are moving towards this point. More and more

business leaders also realise that climate change can drive

innovation and is a wealth-generating opportunity. There are still

barriers to overcome. The energy industry is going through a

big transition due to low fossil fuel prices and new technologies

putting old business models to the test. Still, there is every

reason to believe in a future with a cleaner economy. At Statkraft

we continue to play our part in getting us there.

Making change happen

By Bente E. Engesland

SVP Corporate Communication, Statkraft