Stockholm (NordSIP) – After over a decade as Senior Sustainability Analyst at AP2, Christina Olivecrona has left the Swedish public pension fund to take a different approach to sustainability, more flexibly manage her time and raise the profile of sustainability issues and especially climate change.
“AP2 is a great place to work! I’m very proud of what we have achieved with regard to ESG integration and engagement over the years. My main reason for leaving is to be able to steer my own time. I also look forward to work with sustainability from other perspectives,” Olivecrona tells NordSIP.
Olivecrona’s main lesson from her time at AP2 was the importance of integrating sustainability in a holistic way. “Build knowledge within the organisation so that everyone feels confident about sustainability issues. Sustainability work has to be relevant, in order to be used. It is also important to anchor the sustainability work in an organisation’s mission. From there, all that is left to do is to find out how sustainability can be integrated into analysis and investment processes in such a way that is becomes useful,” she says.
Regarding the future of the investment industry, Olivecrona highlights the need to tackle climate change and the role that regulation can play. “All investors face challenges and opportunities when it comes to sustainability, as sustainability issues now are so important for the future of our societies and the global economic development. The main global challenge and opportunity is of course climate. Investors both need to protect their assets from being stranded and invest in the transition in order to mitigate climate change,” she adds.
“At the EU level, I think all the new rules coming out of the EU’s sustainable finance strategy provide a lot of opportunities. They will guide investment, provide greater transparency and hopefully speed up the transition and accelerate the necessary changes. Every opportunity also has challenges. It is great to devise common frameworks, but it requires a lot of time and effort for corporations and investor organisations to implement them. The challenge is to implement in a way that drives change,” she explains.
Looking ahead to what she wants to do in this new stage of her career, Olivecrona is keen to engage with board directors and raise awareness about climate change and the energy transition. “I would like to contribute to a more sustainable world, not only sustainable investing, even though I believe the finance sector has a crucial role to play in the transition to a fossil-free and sustainable economy. In this transition, all corporations and organisations need to revisit their strategies. I would like to contribute to increased knowledge and competencies for sustainability issues and especially climate in board rooms,” Olivecrona concludes.
