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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