Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson is a Swedish journalist, moderator and program host focusing on
sustainability. She is chair of the independent think tank Global Utmaning (Global Challenge) and
program host for We Don´t Have Time in collaboration with UNDP where she hosts online TV-broadcasts for audiences of up to 50 million people. She is also Content Director and moderator for A Sustainable Tomorrow and a TED-X speaker. Catarina has moderated for 15 years for The EU Commission, The Swedish government, international corporations and for NGO´s. Her expertise is on all aspects of sustainability, but primarily climate action. Catarina has worked as a journalist since 1991, based in New York, Stockholm, Singapore and Malmö, Sweden. She has published 12 books in the field of sustainability and she lectures in Sweden as well as internationally. Catarina is co- founder of the international NGO “Our Kids´Climate” with groups in 23 countries. Her academic background is in political science, cultural science and journalism.

How can European finance ministries drive and shape the transition to a low-carbon society? This has been the focus of a major international study at Oxford Smith’s School of Enterprise and the Environment, in collaboration with the Swedish Energy Agency.

In the report, scholars have explored tools and philosophies used at finance ministries in Sweden, Finland and Great Britain, including input from policy experts like Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Mariana Mazzucato, among others.

This event will present the result of the report – and introduce 10 recommendations for how Ministries of Finance can drive and shape the low-carbon transition.

Speakers

Cameron Hepburn, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford & Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

About the organiser

The Swedish Energy Agency works for a sustainable energy system, combining ecological sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply. For a more efficient energy use, the Agency supports the development and dissemination of knowledge targeted at households, industry, and the public sector.

Margrethe Vestager is the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the Digital Age and Commissioner for Competition. She previously served as Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior (2011-14) and Minister for Education (1998-2001) of Denmark, and as President of the ECOFIN Council (2012). She was Political leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party (2007-14), and has worked for the Danish Ministry of Finance (1993-95). Ms. Vestager holds an MSc in Economics (University of Copenhagen).

Agneta Jacobson is the Head of Strategic Partnerships and International Relations at AI Sweden. Teyi founder and a serial entrepreneur, she is a facilitator for the co-creation of digital innovations and the creation of disruptive opportunities based on technology.

Agneta is also a founder of the Innovation Strategy Forum, an executive group of more than 160 innovation and strategy managers from 80 large organizations in Sweden and led the development of Innovation Essentials, a high-level framework for supporting cooperation between corporates and startups.

In addition, she has successfully managed the sale, deployment and support of complex technical and business solutions, major customer contracts and long-term agreements, global channel and OEM relationships, and enterprise partnerships with customers and technology partners in a diverse set of industry verticals in both the private and public sector. Between 2016-2018 Agneta was the COO of Stockholm IT Region, a joint effort of public and private groups aimed at fostering the IT industry in the Stockholm region.

Passionate about using disruptive technologies to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, she has also engaged to organize The Stockholm Act – a festival in the city of Stockholm to create awareness for sustainable development towards 2030.

Join us for a seminar about the Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative (GTI), a unique partnership between the Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova, Business Sweden, and the Embassy of Sweden in the United States.

The Ambassador of Sweden to the United States, Karin Olofsdotter, will give an introduction to opportunities for collaboration between Sweden and the US within green transition. A panel with representatives from three of the founding agencies of GTI will share insights on how this inter-agency initiative can increase collaboration and drive innovation to accelerate the green transition.

You will also hear from a representative from the city of San Jose, CA, a partner to GTI, about the city’s efforts to reach its net zero targets and how Swedish solutions can help in this endeavour.

Furthermore, you will learn how you can get involved and benefit from the support and resources available.

Speakers

About the organiser

As ambitious infrastructure projects to support the green transition are being rolled out in several states in the U.S., there is a growing demand for innovative green energy solutions and partnerships. Against this backdrop, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC, Business Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency and Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova launched the Green Transition Initiative to accelerate Swedish-American collaboration in the transition toward a low-carbon economy.

Anders Cronholm is the CEO at Blekinge Business Incubator and Chairman of SISP Swedish Incubator and Science Parks. He is also the co-founder of Octacon AB and Blackdrop Interactive AB. Professionally skilled in Product Management, Management, Entrepreneurship, Business Development, and Business Strategy, Seed funding and Venture Capital, Anders has been working with early stages startups for more than 20 years.

Andreas Umland holds a PhD in Politics from Cambridge, DrPhil in History as well Diploma in Politology from FU Berlin, MPhil in Russian Studies from Oxford, and MA in Political Science from Stanford (for full list see CV). Andreas was a researcher at Stanford’s Hoover Institution as well as Harvard’s Weatherhead Center, and taught at the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, St. Antony’s College Oxford, Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Catholic University of Eichstätt, and University of Jena. He is the editor of the ibidem Press book series “Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society” and “Ukrainian Voices.”

He is a member of the boards of the International Association for Comparative Fascist Studies, and Boris Nemtsov Academic Center for the Study of Russia at Charles University of Prague.

At Breakthrough Energy – an organisation founded by Bill Gates in 2015 – Ann Mettler is working with European partners to accelerate clean tech innovation in the pursuit of climate neutrality and net-zero emissions. Previously, she served as Director-General at the European Commission where she ran the internal strategy department, reporting directly to the President. An entrepreneur at heart, Ann set up her own think tank which she ran for more than a decade. Her career started at the World Economic Forum where she led the Europe department.

Anna-Carin Ramsten has a PhD in Education. Her research interests are within education and research policy. She is also a Senior Expert at Vinnova and has beens responsible for the government’s strategic partnership programme Skills Supply and Lifelong Learning between 2020-2022 at Vinnova.

Tech investor, geopolitical risk advisor and sustainability strategist Aurore Belfrage spends her time in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and international affairs. She is the co-founder of the sustainable technology thinktank SusTechable, geopolitical advisor at Consilio International, and was a steering committee member for the Swedish government’s contribution to Expo2020 Dubai and a previous investor at EQT Ventures. She’s a columnist, vlogger and hosts a podcast on pressing issues such as environment, geopolitics, governance and technology. In 2011, she co-founded the disruptive global fintech startup Wrapp, for which Skype founder Zennström and Linkedin founder Reid Hoffman were early investors. Born in London, she was partly raised there as well as in Saudi and Sweden, with previous lives in scrap dealing at Stena Metall, speechwriting and attempts at stand-up comedy.