All posts by Margrethe Harboe

Yara prices debut US dollar green notes offering

Business News, Chemicals / Metals

Yara International ASA priced its debut offering of USD 600 million 7.378% Green Notes due 2032 (the “Notes”). The Notes will be issued pursuant to Rule 144A/Regulation S.

Yara intends to allocate an amount equivalent to the net proceeds from this offering to finance, or refinance in whole or in part, one or more, new or existing, green investments or assets in accordance with Yara’s green financing framework. Yara’s green financing framework and a second party opinion thereon issued by CICERO Shades of Green are available at Yara’s webpage at the following link: https://www.yara.com/investor-relations/reports-presentations/.

Read full article.

Five steps the US must take to double down on commercial diplomacy

Business News, Government

In recent years, China has greatly stepped up its diplomatic and commercial outreach to countries from the South Pacific and Latin America to Africa and the Middle East. In fact, in 2019, China overtook the U.S. in the number of diplomatic outposts it maintains around the globe. At the same time, Beijing’s trade and investment programs, including the Belt and Road initiative and new infrastructure and development deals, have expanded to dozens of countries.  

The contrast with the U.S. is stark. Our federal international affairs budget has been largely flat over the past decade, which is also how long it’s been since the U.S. added to the list of 20 countries where we have trade agreements in place.  

Read full article.

Norge og USA med felles initiativ for utslippsfri skipsfart

Business News, Government, Shipping & Offshore

Statsminister Jonas Gahr Støre og USAs klimautsending John Kerry lanserte The Green Shipping Challenge under klimatoppmøtet i Sharm el Sheikh mandag. Dette er et initiativ som skal øke innsatsen for grønn skipsfart. Norge vil og kan lede an i klimaomstillingen av skipsfarten, og regjeringen har meldt inn bidrag om økt innsats her hjemme og internasjonalt.

– Vi står midt i en klimakrise, og vi må øke innsatsen på alle områder for å holde 1,5-gradersmålet innen rekkevidde. Skipsfart er en viktig internasjonal kilde til utslipp, derfor har president Biden og jeg gjennom The Green Shipping Challenge invitert statsledere og industri til å gjøre mer for å få ned utslippene fra skipsfart, sier statsminister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Les hele artikkelen.

AmCham Sustainability Forum: A Norwegian Agriculture Technology Innovation & Transparency for Positive Change

AmCham News

AmCham Sustainability Forum: A Norwegian Agriculture Technology Innovation & Transparency for Positive Change

AmCham members representing ten diverse industries convened at Orkla’s Oslo headquarters to learn about transparency in supply chain and packaging and a Norwegian innovation that is reshaping opportunities within agriculture.

Presenters:

Ole Kristian Sivertsen – President & Group CEO

Desert Control logo

Ellen Behrens – Director Sustainability

Arendalsuka logos orkla(4)

Turning Sand Into Soil

Desertification is the degradation of land leading to loss of biological productivity, as soil is unable to retain water and nutrients. Restoring the soil’s capability is one solution to combat desertification and water scarcity issues. With us from Stavanger, Ole Kristian Sivertsen, President and Group CEO of Desert Control, introduced participants to the company’s Norwegian innovation in climate-smart agriculture technology, LNC (liquid natural clay), and how it contributes to combat desertification, soil degradation and water scarcity. The company’s current projects are primarily in the Middle East and western United States.

In brief terms, LNC-treated soil has, as opposed to sandy soil; small particle sizes, a large surface area, and small pore space, leading the treated soil to significantly increase its water retention capacity. On average, according to The World Bank, agriculture accounts for 70% of all freshwater withdrawals globally. With a growing population, there is an acute need to limit water usage. Desert Control is Making Earth Green Again, and has made it their mission to “preserve the prosperity of life.” As Sivertsen said “soil is not dirt, it is grounds for living organisms” underlining the inherent qualities that lie in soil to solve global challenges in agriculture.

"Soil is not dirt, it is grounds for living organisms."

Ole Kristian Sivertsen, Desert Control

Embracing Transparency

Orkla is a leading branded consumer goods company with 300 brands in 22 countries, and it is their mission to improve everyday life with sustainable and enjoyable local brands. Ellen Behrens, Orkla’s Director Sustainability, has since 2009 been integral to the development and implementation of Orkla’s sustainability strategy.

Behrens presented how Orkla is embracing transparency through supply chain due diligence and steps they are taking towards circular packaging commitment. On Orkla’s approach to sustainability, Behrens explained “It must start with understanding impact,” and in turn reduce negative impact and transform that into positive change. For any consumer goods company, challenges include indulgence products’ lifestyle impacts and ensuring an ethical process of sourcing raw materials.

The Norwegian Transparency Act entered into force in July 2022 and requires enterprises to conduct due diligence assessments, including human rights due diligence. Behrens explained that adhering to this type of reporting is necessary to earn trust from consumers and stakeholders, and importantly, that being honest about challenges in the supply chain is ultimately the first step towards improvement.

As for packaging, Orkla requests their suppliers to classify products according to it’s packaging classification criteria. A leader of Emballasjeforeningen’s Forum for Circular Plastic Packaging, Behrens provided some enlightening insight on plastics, including debunking the common misconception that biobased biodegradable or compostable plastics will solve the word’s plastic consumption challenge. The solution, rather, lies in the materials’ recyclability.

About 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 Margrethe.Harboe@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

Kristiansund Kommune: Transforming the Norwegian public sector through the cloud

Business News, Technology

Kristiansund Kommune is a municipality located on the western coast of Norway. A small town of just 24,000 inhabitants, Kristiansund has big aspirations for its citizens and believes in using technology to empower future change. Over the past few years, this has meant migrating to the cloud and using it to develop ground-breaking solutions specifically designed for its community.
From a COVID-19 platform to an AI solution tackling mental illness, these projects have been crucial in helping Kristiansund Kommune to tackle the pandemic, improve its operations and support its citizens.

Read full article.

Skriftlig spørsmål fra Ingjerd Schou (H) til utenriksministeren

Business News, Government

Spørsmål
Ingjerd Schou (H): Hvordan vil nedleggelsen av generalkonsulatet i Houston, Texas, påvirke Norges arbeid med å ivareta de diplomatiske båndene til Norges viktigste allierte?

Begrunnelse
I en pressemelding 9. september 2022 varsler Utenriksdepartementet at generalkonsulatet i Houston, sammen med fire andre utenriksstasjoner, vil legges ned.

Les svar HER.

StormGeo to provide severe weather warnings for more than 60 onshore US wind farms

Business News, Energy, Technology

Sustainable energy company Avangrid has announced that it will start using advanced forecasting services from weather intelligence provider StormGeo for its onshore wind farms across the USA.

Ty Kristensen, director of Avangrid’s National Control Center for the company’s renewables business, said, “Safety is our most important goal. As such, we must have accurate and timely alerts when lightning or high wind speeds might pose a risk to crews working around high-voltage equipment, performing up-tower maintenance or crane operations. Additionally, having 48-hour and seven-day forecasts allows us to drill down to quickly identify the likelihood that weather conditions will disrupt maintenance activities. Overall, we were impressed with the high-quality visualizations in the portal and StormGeo’s reputation for rarely having system outages.”

Read full article.

AmCham Mentorship Program – Group Gathering 3, 2022

AmCham News,

AmCham Mentorship Program - 3rd Group Gathering

Leaders’ commitment to sustainability and employee wellbeing were on the agenda as participants of the 2022-2023 edition of the AmCham Mentorship Program attended their third group gathering at BCG’s Oslo office. There, presentations featured AmCham members BCG and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Norway (CCEP).

Robert Hjorth

Partner

Carl Lescroart

Vice President & Country Director

Martine Bjørnstad Malterud

Assistant Director Strategy & Insight

Happiness in Focus

As one of the leading consumer goods companies in the world, with 33,000 employees across 29 markets, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has made it their priority to map employee engagement locally whilst maintaining high awareness of their global impact. While the world was “set on pause,” with many unknowns emerging from the pandemic, more credence was lent to questioning happiness, as explained by Carl Lescroart, Vice President & Country Director Norway.

“When I will have died, there is no one who will say: he increased the market share of Dove.”

Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever

To support the individual’s wellbeing as an integrated strategy, Martine Bjørnstad Malterud, Head of Strategic Planning/ Assistant Director Strategy & Insight, showed guests how they have implemented concrete steps within the organization, including regular questionnaires. Moreover, conveying a sense of purpose, duty and service ultimately engages employees at a fundamental level. Lescroart elaborated, explaining that empathy and courage displayed in leadership will in turn encourage employees to raise their voice. The importance of purpose was illustrated by the following quote by Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever. “When I will have died, there is no one who will say: he increased the market share of Dove.”

The Biggest Challenge

Arguably, there is no larger leadership challenge facing both current and future leaders than steering towards sustainability pledges set by the international community. Partner Robert Hjorth leads BCG’s climate and sustainability work in Norway and outlined the current state of greenhouse gas emission’s effect on global warming, and the path towards net zero emissions by 2050. At the current trajectory, and without drastic action, the world will not reach the goal of 1.5°C by 2050, nor well below 2°C.

The corporate agenda for climate action can be broken down into: commit, act, and engage. In addition to proactive investments and innovations, all must actively seek opportunities to collaborate in order to move forward, together.

Hjorth then gave a synopsis of Norway’s situation and projected development of emission targets through 2050. BCG’s roadmap shows that a feasible and affordable pathway to net zero (and beyond) for Norway does exist, if a holistic approach to climate action, prioritization and capital allocation is taken.

As illustrated by both presentations, implementing ambitious sustainability targets is imperative to the goal of retaining talent within the organization, as it demands a purpose-led strategy, as well as stakeholders who are aware of the necessity of sustainable action in order to operate competitively.

 

Photos: BCG Norway

Participating Companies 2022-23:

About the AmCham Mentorship Program

With its unique cross-industry orientation, the AmCham Mentorship Program offers a dynamic, internationally minded arena for leadership development.

The program pairs emerging corporate talent with seasoned executives from AmCham Patron-level member companies. The result: a collaborative arena that fosters improvement and reflection, prepares young leaders for the challenges of the international marketplace, and forges bonds between AmCham member companies.

The Mentorship program is available to Patron-level members of AmCham Norway. For further information and interest in the program, please contact Margrethe.Harboe@amcham.no.

Past Mentorship Program Events

Amogy hires Yara director to launch Norway operations

Business News, Shipping & Offshore

US-based Amogy Inc., a pioneer of emission-free ammonia power solutions, has announced the opening of its Norway operations with the hiring of Christian W. Berg, Managing Director, Amogy Norway.

Berg will be tasked with accelerating Amogy’s effort in commercialising its ammonia-to-power technology with partners in the Scandinavian countries.

“Norway and its forward-thinking maritime industry recognised the immense opportunity that ammonia presents as a green fuel, which gave the country a head start in establishing the needed infrastructure, so it only makes sense for Amogy to establish a significant presence here,” said, Seonghoon Woo, CEO of Amogy.

Read full article.

Google Cloud Announces Plans for First Cloud Region in Norway

Business News, Technology

Google Cloud announced that it is bringing its first cloud region to Norway to support the country’s sustainable digitization and meet growing demand for cloud services locally and around the world. The new cloud region will help bring innovations from across Google closer to our local customers and provide them with a platform that enables organizations to operate in a more resource efficient way.

The Norway cloud region will give local businesses the choice to keep their data onshore, retain data sovereignty and drive their digital transformation efforts locally with speed, security and sustainability at the core. Like all our cloud regions, the Norway region will be matched by 100% renewable energy annually and in accordance with Google’s global commitment, aim to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030, thus providing local customers with clean, sustainable infrastructure to power their businesses and technology.

Read full article.