Blog by Fernanda Torre, Boards Impact Forum Operations Expert
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Webinar on Experiences from Revisiting & Guiding Sustainability Plans
On the 16th of May we had a webinar on the topic ”Experiences from Revisiting & Guiding Sustainability Plans” with Asthildur Otharsdottir – Chair Controlant, Empower, Kaptio Travel, Partner Frumtak Ventures- and Birger Steen – NED Nordea and Chair Board Operations and Sustainability committee, Chair Nordic Semiconductor, Myneva, Pagero, Partner Summa Equity.
Key Takeaways from the webinar
The session started with a summary by Fernanda Torre on the event organized by CGI – Global Climate Governance Initiative Financial Hub in collaboration with McKinsey on May 9th on the topic ”How Financial Services are Assessing Corporate Clients Climate Transition Plans”. Moving into the main event, the first guest Asthildur Otharsdottir shared her experience coming from a giant corporation and moving into a VC world.
Birger Steen shared some insights gathered at the Nordic Museum’s Nordic Innovation Summit, which had the theme Sustaining Sustainability. Birger also shared some of the practices at Suma Equity, which is a B Corp. Birger Steen talke furthermore that we should engage before de-select and paying on long-term incentive plans aligned with Paris Agreement commitments. He also shared that disclosure commitments are the notion of thinking of both binding commitments, thinking of which commitments you have made and which ones you have not made, as a portfolio question. It is also essential to manage the greenwashing risk.
Asthildur Otharsdottir was comparing the efforts of a big corporation to a start-up or a scale-up. Smaller companies don’t have the same resources to work with sustainability, so it’s essential to go back to basics and constantly discuss it at the board level. It’s a perfect start to get the discussion going internally. On the other hand, Birger brought up that big companies have less freedom regarding frameworks because of legal requirements, which can be good because they can follow the established frameworks.
During the webinar, the polls revealed (results):
Following the poll, we had breakout rooms with discussion around the question, “What are the key challenges in progressing and disclosing information about our sustainability progress to the outside, and some actions we as a board are improving in?” Overall, the webinar and peer exchange was fantastic opportunity for our board members to come together, learn from each other, and enhance our skills and knowledge. We are grateful to the guest speaker for their valuable contributions and to an actively participating audience. In conclusion, Asthildur pointed out that it is important to dare to choose what to focus on and don’t get overwhelmed by compliance issues. Birger agreed that it is important not to get lost and that, at the moment, it is essential to invest to develop internal capabilities to be ready to see what is coming up next.
The webinar and peer exchange proved an excellent opportunity for our board members to come together, learn from one another, and improve their skills and knowledge. We are grateful to the guest speakers for their valuable contributions and to our engaged audience for actively participating. We are excited to organize more webinars and peer exchanges to continue fostering a learning, collaboration, and innovation culture. These events will help our board members stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in their field and equip them with the tools they need to succeed. Our Chair concluded with some updates on available resources and what is coming, which can be found in the below chart.
About Panelists & Moderator
✔ Birger Steen, Partner Summa Equity, NED Nordea, Chair Sustainability & Operations Com, Chair Nordic Semiconductor, myneva, Pagero
✔ Asthildur Othardsdottir, Partner Frumtak Ventures, Kaptio Travel, Controlant, Empower, Treble Technologies
✔ FACILITATED BY: Liselotte Engstam, Chair Boards ImpactForum, Board Member Climate Governance Initiative, NED at TietoEvry, Transtema, Zalaris, Cint, Ografy and BoardClic.
Learning more & deep dive
The presentation can be found HERE.
Recording you can find HERE.
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