In late September, Combient Pure and Climate Leadership Coalition organized an event to discuss the prerequisites for collaborative climate action. The message was clear: multicompany co-operation yields the best path to accelerate the low carbon transition.
Frontrunner companies are actively seeking ways to take down not only their own direct emissions, but also emissions in the complete value chains they operate in. Collaboration and co-innovation with suppliers and customers are essential to create impactful climate solutions.
But what does it take to create value chain wide solutions to fight the climate crisis? We came to hear interesting insights on this from Jan Moström, the CEO of LKAB, a pioneer in collaborative climate action.
In his keynote, Jan Moström introduced LKAB’s road towards an environmentally sustainable mining company. The company realized they need to move the whole ecosystem of companies they work closely with towards green mining and fossil-free steel. LKAB does this in several different collaboration projects with leading industrial players. For example the collaboration project HYBRIT between LKAB, SSAB and Vattenfall will help decrease the CO2 emissions from steel manufacturing by two thirds of Sweden’s total carbon dioxide emissions annually.
But how can groups of companies with different strategies come together to co-create new business solutions?
“Creating the right environment for co-innovation is crucial. Regardless of the format of the co-operation, the priorities in transparency, trust and leadership are essential. -- Otherwise, it is very difficult”, Moström said.
When asked, what should be the first step for companies to take to create value chain wide climate solutions, Moström stressed the importance of understanding the strategic options for companies:
“You have to understand your climate impact and your strategic options in the whole transformation. Start on the executive level to address, which stakeholders you go to and who can help you. It is extremely complex to re-base all our energy and process systems. “
Governments’ and investors’ long-term targets set the scene for strategic climate action
Jan Moström’s keynote was followed by commentaries from Jussi Herlin, the Vice Chairman of the Board at KONE and Siri Sachs a Credit Analyst at SEB and a member of the Wallenberg family.
Jussi Herlin underlined the importance of having different operators in value networks: large companies, startups, governments, non-profits, and company owners. He stressed the importance of large company ecosystem operators like Combient Pure fostering the co-operation around a shared goal.
Also, the government’s role in creating a stable operating environment for climate-related investments is central.
“The most important job for governments is to create predictability so every actor knows what will happen – and allow for strategic thinking in companies. We really need to increase the dialogue between industry and government”, Herlin said.
Siri Sachs, part of the 6th generation of the Wallenberg family, stressed the need for enabling collaboration through different networks.
“We believe in the power of collaboration and sharing ideas. That is why we connect sustainability heads, CEOs, chairpersons, and others, in different settings across the sphere of our companies to share best practices as well as problems they are facing”, Sachs said.
The family’s activities are based on a number of guiding principles well aligned with climate action; “Esse non videri” – to act, not to seem to be, is a phrase adopted by Marcus Wallenberg Sr as his credo. “Our guiding principle of 'focusing on getting the job done' is something I believe we have in common with Combient Pure”, Sachs continued.
One of the indications for that is the Climate Action Plans, which Investor has introduced as a comprehensive framework to all its portfolio companies. The framework raises the companies’ ambition to reach net zero emissions across the value chain by 2050 at the latest. This means that all the Investor companies’ value chains – including suppliers and customers – are expected to be carbon neutral by 2050. Targets for the long-term help companies make strategic decisions on emission reducing actions and investments.
“Our ancestors found long-term thinking important, but for my generation it is fundamental”, Siri Sachs concluded.
Collaboration between NCC in Finland, Stora Enso and Combient Pure to promote low-carbon building solutions
In the last part of the event, the new Low Carbon Building collaboration project between NCC, Stora Enso and Combient Pure was published. Around 40 % of global carbon emissions originate from the built environment. Much of them still come from the energy use of buildings, the second largest source of emissions being building materials. Wood construction is one means to considerably reduce emissions from construction.
Property owners and investors with ambitious climate targets have expressed their interest and need for low carbon building solutions especially when it comes to material choices – an area still underexplored by many. To make low-carbon choices, end customers of the construction value chain require both clearly communicated, ready-made solutions and comprehensive information on the emission impacts of those solutions.
The collaboration between NCC, Stora Enso and Combient Pure aims to answer exactly this need: to make it easier for property owners and developers to choose low-carbon construction solutions. This is done by developing construction solutions that minimize emissions from new buildings and by bringing forward the emission reduction effects of the low-carbon building options.
Kari Onniselkä, Head of NCC Building Finland and Johanna Pirinen, SVP Sustainability, Wood Products, Stora Enso shared their thoughts on why value chain wide collaboration is important when lowering the construction industry’s emissions.
“It is very important that we take all the stakeholders on board, since in the construction industry nobody is able to do things alone – tackling climate change requires people from the planning and execution phase of construction, owners and end users from the building’s use stage as well as material suppliers, construction workers and regulators. Change requires a lot of dialog, collaboration, and mutual understanding on where we are heading”, Onniselkä stated.
“The construction sector is a very complex network and since decisions are made in an early phase of planning, the emission footprints are usually locked then as well. Through this collaboration I hope we can learn more about how and where we can best offer our low carbon solutions to make a positive impact”, Pirinen said.
There is a huge business potential in low carbon building as the global building stock is expected to double by 2050, while the sector must operate at “net zero carbon” by 2050 if global warming is to remain under 2 °C. Therefore, Onniselkä and Pirinen encouraged others to bravely try co-development of new solutions.
“Dare! Try! Learn together! Everyone on this globe is needed to fight climate change”, Johanna concluded.
Read more:
The Climate Leadership Coalition
LKAB's collaboration initiatives
Combient Pure, NCC and Stora Enso collaboration on low carbon building
