Stockholm(NordSIP) – On Wednesday, June 12, NordicSIF held its annual conference in Oslo. NordicSIF provides a forum for Norsif, Dansif, Swesif, Finsif and IcelandSIF to discuss, network and partner on sustainable finance issues pertinent to the Nordic region. The annual conference is the forum’s main event and an opportunity for all the members to come together and share their experiences and vision. This year’s main topic of discussion was the net-zero transition.
This year’s conference was organised by NorSIF, hosted at DNB’s Oslo Headquarters, and sponsored by Sustainability, DNB, S&P Global and BlackRock.
Ten Panels on Sustainable Finance
The conference was divided into 10 sessions, where members had the opportunity to hear from specialists in the field. Session 1 was presented by Alex Edmans from the London Business School and focused on “Scientific scrutiny of Sustainability”. Session 2 was presented by DNB’s Kjerstin Braathen and discussed “The role of the Nordic financial services industry in the transition”. Session 3 was hosted by Martin Skanke from the Climate Committee 2050 and discussed “Norway’s climate transition”. Session 4 focused on “The transition in the energy market”, and was presented by Jarand Rystad from Rystad Energy. In Session 5, Sverre Alvik from DNV discussed the “Energy transition Outlook – the Norwegian perspective”.
Session 6 was a panel discussion with Hans Thrace Nielsen, Storebrand, Aker ASA’s Torbjorn Kjus and Teodor Sveen-Nilsen, from SpareBank 1 Markets AS, titled “The energy transition”. The seventh session was also a panel discussion. It focused on “opportunities in the new green industries” and was hosted by Stina Torjenen from Morrow Batteries and Marielle Furnes Mannseth from Norweigan Hydrogen.
During the eighth session, Storebrand Asset Management’s Jan Erik Saugestad and Folketrygdfondet’s Annie Bersagel, discussed “Investor Collaboration in the real world”. The ninth session was a fireside chat with Kjersti Haugland of DNB Markets focused on “The transition’s effect on short, and long-term allocation”. Last, but not least, Session 10 was presented by Ulf Sverdrup, of the Norwegian Business School, who discussed “The geopolitical dimension”.
Some Takeaways
Jarrod Luxton, Senior Lead at Sitra and a Member of the Board and part of Finsif´s NordicSIF working group wrote a summary of the annual conference for Finsif. “We need macro incentives to push and pull our economies towards the green transition. These will be painful and expensive – it remains to be seen how politically palatable this can be. Recent EU elections highlight this,” Luxton said, regarding his main takeaways from Session 9. “Our world is moving from relative stability into a period of instability. Our own ability to deal with this and maintain communication with across the new lines drawn around the world will define our future,” Luxton added regarding Session 10.
“I particularly take with me Alex Edman’s input on the need to dare to critically examine and question, in order to strengthen credibility and the case for sustainable investment. Something I think is especially important when you hear a lot of talk about an ESG backlash. “It is not about being anti-sustainability, but ensuring that sustainability is pursued in the right way.” On the subject of the transition, I take with me that we investors have both an important and reinforcing role to play, but that we now also need support from political decisions that make it profitable to invest in the transition,” said Victoria Lidén, responsible for SIF collaborations on Swesif’s board.
Next year’s NordicSIF conference will be hosted by Swesif in Stockholm.
