Mommy, what’s the point of making more money if you can’t even breathe?

Speech delivered at the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce lunch with the Ambassador of Sweden, HE Henrik Cederin. Melbourne, 16 April 2021.

When my daughter was five, we were having a conversation in the car about pollution. We talked about how because people want more and more things, that in some countries, they are producing so many goods that the air in those countries are thick and difficult to breathe.

She asked me: “why do factories want to keep making more and more things?”, to which I replied: “because they want to grow and they want to make more money”.

She looked at me quizzically and asked me a very poignant question. She asked me: “Mommy, what’s the point of making more money if you can’t even breathe?”.

My daughter is now eight and much of the world has changed since then, and yet, not enough.

So today, I am honoured to be here to speak on behalf of the Sustainability Committee, recently established by the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce, of which I am a member.

You will see on your tables a print out of the companies represented on this sustainability committee – many of them are globally iconic brands and importantly, they are companies that are leading the way in responding to the climate crisis, each of them putting sustainability front and centre of their strategies.

This is critical because as we know, business and industry have an absolutely critical role to play when it comes to driving a lower carbon economy. A global challenge as immense as our climate requires collective action.

As we have seen in many examples, business can be a powerful force for change. Owning the sustainability agenda and driving action can and will help accelerate our response to climate change.

And so when I look at the companies represented in the sustainability committee – I feel empowered.

Collectively, the companies on this committee represent over 700,000 employees globally with combined revenues of US$190 billion.

Which means that, as a group, we have an immense influence to agitate for change and to lead together in driving greater sustainability outcomes in the commitments that we make and the actions that we take.

For instance, IKEA uses more renewable and recycled materials than ever to eliminate waste in its operations and to change how they design products. They have set a goal to become climate positive by 2030.

Tetra Pak is working towards delivering the world's most sustainable packaging, made solely of responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials, fully recyclable and carbon-neutral.

At ABB, I can tell you that we embed sustainability in everything we do. We have recently announced our renewed sustainability targets which is more ambitious than ever – committing to become carbon neutral in our own operations and enable our customers to reduce their CO2 emissions by 100 megatons per year through our technologies.

So today we are at an exciting inflection point.

Governments around the world – including some of the largest emitters such as China, Europe and the US, have stepped up their decarbonisation commitments.

In fact, countries representing more than half of the global economy have gone beyond the goals set in Paris and have committed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Sweden has committed to achieving net zero by 2045 at the latest. After 2045 Sweden has committed to achieve negative net emissions.

Governments, business and society have recognised that confronting climate change and driving greater sustainability is not only the right thing to do, this is the imperative of our generation.

You will see more come out of the sustainability committee as we progress. I hope you’ll join in on the conversation and step up to the challenge with your own personal actions as well.

Thank you.