Stockholm (NordSIP) – On October 17, 2023, Sustainability Day, the Network for Sustainable Business (Nätverket för Hållbart Näringsliv, in Swedish) awarded the 2023 Sustainable Leadership Award to Liza Jonson, CEO of Swedbank Robur.
“I am very pleased to award this year’s prize for Sustainable Leadership to Liza Jonson, who is a passionate, committed and courageous leader. She has a unique ability to inspire and get the employees and others to increase the sustainable investments and integrate the sustainability work as a natural part of the business,” says Erik Lindroth, chairman of the Network for Sustainable Business.
The Sustainable Leadership Award has been awarded by the Network for Sustainable Business since 1999 and aims to reward a business leader who contributed to successful sustainability work in their organisation or in society at large. This year, the jury highlighted Jonson’s leadership on sustainability matters and how she has prioritised sustainability issues since taking over as CEO of Swedbank Robur in 2017.
“With SEK2,000 billion in capital under management, Liza Jonson as CEO of Swedbank Robur has a key position in the sustainable transformation of Sweden, the Nordic region and the world. As leader, she shows the way forward – for her own organization as well as for competitors and society at large. In the absence of a clear destination for our collective sustainability journey, Liza Jonson has found a way forward aligned with Swedbank Robur’s vision, ‘To become a world leader in sustainable value creation’,” the jury argued.
The jury further highlighted the decisions that have taken place under Jonson’s management. Since she was appointed CEO of Swedbank Robur in 2017, the asset manager has adopted ambitious climate goals aligned with the 2015 Paris Agenda and committed to climate neutrality by 2040. Under Jonson’s tenure as CEO, Swedbank Robur also halved the CO2 footprint of its funds, excluded all fossil fuel companies and invested in companies with a clear climate change plan.
“I am very happy about the award and proud of the strong commitment that everyone at Swedbank Robur has to this issue. This is an award that I share with all my fantastic colleagues at Swedbank Robur, who, along with me, are convinced that sustainability creates a financial return in the long run. As Sweden’s largest fund company, we want to be the first to lead the way and even if we have come a long way, there will always be more to do, because sustainability is not a project with an end date,” Jonson said (in Swedish).
