Stockholm (NordSIP) – It might have come as a surprise to many when Nordea’s Head of Community Engagement and former Head of Sustainability, Erik Feldt, announced last month that he would be leaving after twenty-seven years at the bank. Next stop for the experienced leader is Forever Sustainable, a combined consultancy, think-tank, and professional network in corporate sustainability. “I felt the time was right to move into a role and environment where I could focus one hundred per cent on things that I am passionate about,” he tells NordSIP when we meet at his cool new workspace in Stockholm’s Norrsken House. Still in the honeymoon phase, Feldt is eager to talk about the move, what he plans to achieve as Partner at Forever, and the exciting community he has just joined.
A true Nordea veteran, Feldt has spent decades meandering the giant Nordic bank’s corridors. Yet those years have hardly been boring. It is not just the bank’s name and the location of its headquarters that has kept changing. While old Nordbanken was busy merging with first Finnish Merita and then Danish UniBank to evolve into the Nordea of today, Feldt’s own career within the bank has taken some interesting twists and turns, moving seamlessly from asset management, fund management, and responsible investments to HR and on to sustainability and community engagement. “During a long and exciting journey in Nordea, I went from a hardcore banker working in markets and asset management to a purpose-driven and values-based leader within sustainability and community engagement,” comments Feldt.
“At Forever, we love to grab a cup of coffee and share ideas and thoughts with anyone interested in sustainability, shared value, corporate social responsibility, social investing, collective impact, social entrepreneurship and digital transformation,” states the company’s website. It certainly seems like the newly appointed Partner has embraced the spirit of the place. He guides us proudly around his state-of-the-art offices, built inside one of the grand halls of an old tram station while talking about what compelled him to join Forever.
“The purpose of Forever is to enable sustainable development through responsible business,” explains Feldt. “What I like especially is the collaborative mindset. Everyone here is regarded as a potential partner rather than a competitor. I also appreciate the strong link to academia, ensuring that Forever’s services are based on research. In addition, Forever also works with pure impact initiatives on a pro bono basis,” he adds.
The rationale behind Feldt’s career move becomes more apparent as he describes what drives him. “I have a strong urge to make a difference,” he says. “I want to support the transition to a more sustainable future by building bridges between the financial sector and companies in other sectors. More concretely, it is about helping non-financial companies understand and adhere to demands they will meet from lenders and investors in the transition to a net-zero world,” explains Feldt.
“In the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-zero (GFANZ), companies responsible for USD 130 trillion in assets, including some of the biggest Nordic investors, made a net-zero pledge by 2050 at the latest,” he reminds us. “As fantastic as this sounds, the truth is that no one today knows how to reach this ambition. I believe that poses the greatest challenge for the global financial industry,” concludes Feldt.
With more and more experienced professionals like Feldt joining the ranks of those looking for solutions and trying to bridge the gap between finance and the real economy, let us hope that the world is heading for a more sustainable future.
