All posts by Margrethe Harboe

BI enters into agreement with Harvard Summer School

Business News, Education / Research

BI has signed a collaboration agreement with Harvard Division of Continuing Education, allowing high-achieving students to experience the 2023 Harvard Summer School program.

BI’s commitment to providing global opportunities for its students is further enhanced by its new collaboration with Harvard Division of Continuing Education.

Qualified BI students will go through an internal application process, and those selected will be nominated to Harvard Summer School. Students at the bachelor and master level from all study programmes at BI are invited to apply, provided they meet the academic and English-language requirements.

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NBIM: Increasingly transparent on responsible investment

Business News, Financial / Investment

2022 was a year marked by both high activity and several new initiatives for our responsible investment work. For the first time, we also publish a full list of all the company meetings we have had.

Climate change was high on the agenda also in 2022. We launched our 2025 Climate action plan, where we set out actions targeted at driving portfolio companies towards net zero emissions by 2050. We will actively push them towards this target.

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Excerpts from President Biden’s State of the Union Address as Prepared for Delivery

Business News, Government

The story of America is a story of progress and resilience…We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again. Two years ago our economy was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. 

Read excerpts.

AmCham Sustainability Forum: CSRD-Reporting Standards & Wind Turbine Decommissioning

AmCham News, ,

AmCham Sustainability Forum: CSRD-Reporting Standards & Wind Turbine Decommissioning

Overlooking the Oslofjord, AmCham’s latest Sustainability Forum hosted by Wikborg Rein convened members for a timely briefing on sustainability reporting standards and an introduction of a novel service designed to solve a renewable energy conundrum.  

Presenters

Elise Johansen – Partner

Tonje Hagen Geiran – Associate & Special Adviser

Matthew Geraghty – Founder and Venture Lead 

Kate Butchart – Strategic Advisor 

Managing Risk Through CSRD-Reporting Standards

Celebrating 100 years, and one of Norway’s largest full-service law firms, Wikborg Rein boasts of a team with comprehensive expertise on sustainability-related matters. On that team is Partner Elise Johansen, who invited participants to take a step back and consider the intention behind sustainability reporting.

In essence, sustainable development still encompasses the decades-old recognition of connectivity between social, economic, and environmental issues. As a response, a set of policy initiatives has been systemized into The European Green Deal to ensure sustainable development with defined goals such as no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Through reporting obligations, the objective is that private investments will be steered towards sustainable activity, thus making ESG risk an actual financial risk.

Associate & Special Adviser Tonje Hagen Geiran then presented reporting obligations as defined by the newly adopted Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that requires companies to report on the impact of corporate activities on the environment and society, in turn, making businesses more accountable. CSRD reporting is applicable to approximately 1700 business in Norway that meet a set of criteria including number of employees and revenue. This reporting standard is expected to become applicable to a larger number of businesses as soon as 2026. To conclude, Geiran urged businesses to get a good grip on risks to remain attractive for investors.

Photo: Wikborg Rein

Solving a Historic Challenge

Wind farming is hailed as one of our time’s reliable sources of clean and renewable of energy. Not being addressed with the same level of observation, however, is wind turbines’ impact once they reach end-of-life. For lack of a better solution, wind turbine components are currently buried underground. To solve this challenge, ReWind, a digital service that facilitates the planning of sustainable decommissioning and recycling of wind turbines has been formed. The innovative offering is a collaboration between DNV and Reodor Studios.

Founder and venture lead Matthew Geraghty explained that projected waste per year generated by wind turbines by 2025 is 25,000 tons. DNV is the world’s leading classification society and also advises customers within the wind farming sector. Geraghty explained how a recent call for a ban on the use of landfills for all turbine components has been called for by WindEurope and that new EU taxonomy will require wind asset owners to ensure turbine components are recycled responsibly.

“Design is one of the key pillars that will help the (energy) transition.”

Matthew Geraghty, DNV

Reodor Studios is a corporate venture and innovation agency helping leading firms improve existing products and services, or as in this case, create new ones. Strategic Advisor Kate Butchart started with acknowledging that sustainability is arguably the biggest innovation driver and business opportunity of our time. A shift beyond a traditional linear economy, to a “triple-line”-approach (social, environmental, and economic) will progress to a regenerative economy, where principles from ReWind can be applied.

Photo: Wikborg Rein

About AmCham Sustainability Forum

Future success is dependent upon running a sustainable business – for people, planet, and profit. Hence, AmCham brings select, cross-industry member company representatives together on an ongoing basis to discuss opportunities, facilitate open exchange and determine how AmCham members can best contribute to Norwegian and US sustainability agendas going forward.

Read more about our Sustainability Forum and please contact Janice.Gundersen@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

Recent Sustainability Forums

KSAT ka-band antennas part of new NASA network

Business News, Defense / Security

The NASA Near Space Network has integrated four antennas which are now operational. KSAT is contributing to the network with two ka-band antennas located in Svalbard and Punta Arenas.

NASA’s Near Space Network enables spacecraft exploring the solar system and Earth to send back essential science data for researchers and scientists to investigate and make profound discoveries.

KSAT is contributing with our 11,5m (tri band) S-X-Ka band antennas in Svalbard and Punta Arenas, Chile to this network. The NSN-Ka-band network is now operational and NASA developed the other two antennas in Virginia and Alaska.

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LNG to Play a Leading Role in the Energy Transition ABS Chairman, President and CEO Tells USCG Leaders

Business News, Energy

(HOUSTON) The critical role of LNG in meeting shipping’s decarbonization goals was detailed by Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO in a keynote speech to U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) leaders at the Liquefied Gas and Alternative Fuels Senior Executive Forum.

“We are going to have to begin to balance what we’re facing today, which is, essentially, how do we handle energy security relative to the short-term energy security challenge and the longer-term energy transition? LNG is going to play a leading role in this. However, for such a key fuel for the energy transition, it is important to recognize it is itself a fuel in transition. And we will need it to not only evolve but to address and mitigate the risks inherent in its operation today if we are to reach our 2050 objectives,” said Wiernicki.

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Regjeringen: Nå kommer klimapartnerskapene med næringslivet

Business News, Government

Klima- og miljøminister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) og næringsminister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) har signert en intensjonsavtale om å inngå klimapartnerskap med næringslivet. Avtalens øvrige parter er arbeidsgiverorganisasjonene NHO, Virke, Spekter, KS, Kystrederiene og Norges Rederiforbund, og arbeidstakerorganisasjonene LO, YS, Akademikerne og Unio.

– For å nå klimamålene og få til faktiske utslipp, må vi gå fra ord til handling. Tettere samspill og sterke partnerskap er avgjørende for å få fart på den grønne omstillingen i næringslivet, og ikke minst, lykkes med det grønne industriløftet, sier næringsminister Jan Christian Vestre.

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Equinor: Gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea

Business News, Energy

Equinor and partners Wintershall Dea and Petoro have made a commercial gas discovery in production licence 1128 estimated at between two and eleven billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas, or about 12.6-69.2 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Exploration wells 6605/1-2 S&A in the Norwegian Sea were drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig.

The Obelix Upflank discovery was made some 23 kilometres south of the Irpa gas discovery, and 350 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.

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Whitmer visits Hydro headquarters in Norway as part of economic investment trip

Business News, Chemicals / Metals

OSLO, NORWAY — Governor Gretchen Whitmer visited Hydro’s headquarters as part of a five-day investment mission to Norway and Switzerland, focusing on attracting job-creating business investments, particularly in Michigan’s next-generation of automotive manufacturing and clean energy independence ecosystem. While meeting with Hydro, the governor thanked the company for choosing to construct a new facility in Cassopolis, where it will bring a new product line to support the electric vehicle market as well as other applications.  “The decision by Hydro to bring its new recycling technology to Michigan demonstrates how leading-edge, global companies are looking to Michigan to grow in the electric vehicle space,” said Gov. Whitmer. “We applaud Hydro’s commitment to Michigan and look forward to working with the company as it continues to develop electric vehicle and recycling technologies.”

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Yara CEO says green tech investors looking at U.S., not Europe

Business News, Trade

LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Europe is not providing sufficient incentives for companies such as fertiliser producer Yara (YAR.OL) to transition to green technologies in stark contrast to the United States, the chief executive of the Norwegian company said.

“From a business perspective it would make much more sense to expand in the U.S. and that is what is happening now across the board,” Svein Tore Holsether said in an interview.

Read full article here.