Nordic Ambassadors’ Luncheon Philippines 2018

NordCham Philippiness held the the Nordic Ambassadors’ Luncheon ‘Sustainability through World-leading Cleantech Innovation’ at Fairmont Makati on 3 October. The event brought together the four Nordic Ambassadors and industry leading companies to discuss cleantech innovation with a particular focus on goal 7 and 13 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), affordable and clean energy and climate action.

The event was organized by NordCham Philippines, in partnership with the Philippines Norway Business Council, and with support from gold sponsor Pöyry, bronze sponsors, SN Aboitiz Power Group and Wärtsilä, and media partner ANC.

Recap and presentations from the speakers in brief:

Cooperation and engagement between governments and the private sector required

NordCham Vice President Erik Nielsen explained the objectives of the luncheon: “This luncheon will showcase the best practices and experiences from the public and private sector on how to develop cleantech innovations that can help solve environmental challenges and provide sustainable energy and green technology.”

According to the Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2017 conducted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Swedish Energy Agency (SEA), and Tillväxtverket, out of the 40 countries analysed, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway have been ranked in the top 10, which explores where entrepreneurial clean technology companies are most likely to emerge from over the next 10 years – and why.

From the diplomatic missions, H.E. Jan Top Christensen, Ambassador of Denmark to the Philippines highlighted that the Nordic region has the strongest cleantech start-up creation leadership, providing the best conditions today. Denmark leads the way in the 2017 Global Cleantech Innovation Index (GCII), the country is especially strong in commercialized cleantech where Denmark scores top marks for cleantech exports, the number of public cleantech companies and the number of renewable energy jobs.

H.E. Petri Puhakka, Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei

H.E. Petri Puhakka, Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, presented the enabling factors on what Finland has done to encourage innovation on sustainability and technology. Finland plays a key role in cleantech expertize, technologies and innovative solutions that enable business growth. Finnish cleantech industry is one of the cornerstones of the Finnish economy. Finnish organizations are leaders in energy efficiency, clean industrial and bioenergy.

Meanwhile, H.E. Bjørn Jahnsen, Ambassador of Norway to the Philippines, highlighted Norway’s leadership in clean innovation and sustainability and commitment to SDGs through the Norwegian’s maritime sector. Norway is a major player in the maritime sector, to reduce emissions and to stimulate green growth the Norwegian government has elaborated a strategy for the maritime sector to reach zero emissions. The government has put forward new technology and solutions related to the shipping sector, such as the “Ampere”, the first fully electric ferry and “The Vision of the Fjords”, a futuristic hybrid tourist ferry.

Rounding out the public sector views, H.E. Harald Fries, Ambassador of Sweden to the Philippines, highlighted that Sweden offers innovative solutions and extensive know-how knowledge in cleantech innovation. A key element in paving the way for cleantech technology was the decentralization of power, with the government transferring wide-ranging powers to the local governments. This enables to create a strong local framework for environmental policymaking. In addition, Sweden has managed to revolutionize the waste disposal. Sweden makes sure to recycle all materials and when recycling is not possible they transform it into energy.

Private sector initiating and encouraging cleantech innovation

Jakob Larsen, Senior Vice President at Vestas explained that sustainability is the kind of development that meets the needs of the person without compromising future generations. The reason why Nordic companies are rated so highly is that the politicians are forward-thinking and have provided solid and relevant frameworks and policies on sustainability and climate action. The EU politicians have set ambitious policies, for example in 2017, 90% of new generation capacity in the EU came from renewable energy. Furthermore, he highlighted Vestas ability to invest in products and services that are more and more sustainable.

On his part, Ville Rimali, Business Development Manager at Wärtsilä, explained that the company has strong commitments in developing new cleantech technologies as a means towards increasing efficiency and lowering operating costs. Wärtsilä is focused on leading the way in providing power systems based on 100% renewable energy, with the majority of the energy produced by solar, wind power and hydro. He pointed out that a high renewable world will require massive amounts of solar and energy storage. Moreover, Wärtsilä is striving to provide future solutions and in particular developing opportunities in flexible gas capacity.

Adding to the private sector perspective, Joseph Yu, President and CEO at SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP) gave an overview of the company business activities on and how they are contributing to the UN SDGs goals. SNAP powers positive changes for the industry and communities through the development of world-class renewable energy plants.

H.E. Harald Fries, Ambassador of Sweden to the Philippines

Finally, Rutchie Musong, Country Business Development & Channel Partner Manager at ABB, explained how the company is developing smart cities. It is an intelligent way for ABB to leverage on digital technology and predict on how we can better manage our resources. To develop a strong and sustainable foundation, ABB is looking at four major pillars, utilities, water, transportation and buildings, with each pillar interconnected together. That is the best way to optimize the system, when every hardware and asset can communicate with each other. Furthermore, Mr. Musong stressed the importance on continuing finding solutions for smart and sustainable cities in the Philippines, however he pointed out we need to increase the collaboration between the different stakeholders for a more sustainable future.

To conclude the luncheon, Lynn Dimayuga, Renewable Energy Manager, Pöyry, moderated the panel discussion on cleantech innovation and how the different stakeholders can facilitate better cooperation in helping the field of sustainability development move forward in the right direction and tackle the challenges ahead.

Full story and links to all the presentations available via: nordcham.com.ph

Source: NordCham Philippines

About Joakim Persson

Freelance business and lifestyle photojournalist

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