“What’s the point with Danske Bank’s exclusion list?” asks Filipe this week, as he took a closer look at the bank’s lending to nuclear arm manufacturer Honeywell. Nordea, meanwhile, has managed to poach back 16-year veteran Katarina Hammar who spent less than a year at Lannebo Fonder. “The combination of a dedicated corporate governance role, an international environment, and the scale that working for the biggest Nordic fund manager implies proved irresistible,” she said to Julia in an interview.
Also in Stockholm, NordSIP was invited to join a round table discussion arranged by local fund manager Atle on palm oil controversies, in the presence of Paolo D’Odorico, Professor of Natural Resources at UC Berkley. Stanford University, meanwhile, published a report that ticked off Richard who summarised the paper showing how government subsidies still support a livestock farming which is responsible for 14.5% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions. He then also took fossil fuel subsidies to the Laundromat, on the back of a recent study published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Following up on last week’s introductory article about the major issues insurance companies have to grapple with given the increase in climate-change related risks, we talked to one of the Nordic’s largest insurers, Storebrand. “This summer’s weather, with fires in the south of Europe and floods and heavy rainfalls here in Norway, should be taken as a sneak preview of our future and should increase the sense of urgency for all investors,” Chief Sustainability Officer Margrethe Assev told us.
On a more optimistic note, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) held its annual conference concurrently with World Water Week and awarded the 2023 Stockholm Water Prize to Professor Andrea Rinaldo. Let us not forget that last week, the European Commission officially adopted the rules to govern the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’s implementation. Last but not least, the Snap celebrates Ecuador’s democratic decision to limit fossil fuel extraction despite negative economic consequences.
