A week after the IEA presented its radical report on the global energy transition required to adjust to climate change, Nordic politics is reverberating with its challenges. Connie Hedegaard, a Danish politician and a former European Commissioner for Climate Action in the European Commission, is likely in a good position to understand. She writes that the “IEA's annual World Energy Outlook has an incredibly high status with governments and decision-makers all over the world and is simply the reference work when it comes to making energy policy. Precisely for this reason, it has been a thorn in the side of climate activists around the world that the IEA has for years consistently underestimated the importance of renewable energy ... Therefore, it is not a small thing that the IEA now presents a well-worked climate scenario. “Not nice reading for oil sheikhs and coal mining companies, one might think. Nah, and also a bit of a challenge for our northern neighbor. Just try to watch the political debate in Norway in the days after the report is published "
And an editorial in the Norwegian publication, Energy and Climate, argues that Norway’s energy policy will shift prior to the Glasgow COP. The editorial argues that irrespective of which political party, Labor or Conservative, holds the reins of government, Norway’s oil policy must bend to international will. It says that “there is no point in coming to the Glasgow meeting with a story that our oil is better than everyone else's oil - and expect everyone else to bow and nod say, of course, yes, Norway is in a special position that means that everyone must pay special attention to you. The alternative to a change in policy is not that everything will be as before, but that Norway gradually takes on a role as a self-centered and unsympathetic petrostate … will be contrary to Norwegian interests, both because we as all countries benefit from the success of climate policy, because we are going through a green shift anyway - and because Norway needs good relations with our neighbors and friends in Europe and in the USA.”
One of the conclusions is that “Norway needs something new and big to report on the global climate policy arena, to be taken seriously and to be relevant ... It is no longer sufficient to allocate money for rainforest protection and to be at the forefront of carbon capture, as well as world champions in electric car sales … Something more is needed, which shows that we take it into account that there is no room for new oil and gas … It would be very constructive if other western fossil exporters such as Australia and Canada were involved.” (Altinget, Energi og Klima)
Everfuel has launched a roll-out plan for hydrogen filling stations in Denmark, the third and final part of Everfuel's Scandinavian green hydrogen fuel strategy for trucks, buses and cars that will connect the primary traffic corridors in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The goal is to place up to 19 hydrogen filling stations strategically in relation to each other. The Danish network of hydrogen filling stations is part of Everfuel's Ramp-up phase in the plan to invest €1.5 billion in the development of the European value chain for green hydrogen and to achieve €1 billion in revenue from the sale of hydrogen fuel to buses, trucks and cars before 2030. (press release)
Sweden's Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation, Ibrahim Baylan (S) has promised to “beef up” Swedish authorities in Northern Sweden, in order to speed up green industrial development. The promise comes after Baylan together with The Minister for Environment and Climate, Per Bolund (MP) held roundtable talks with the CEO’s of LKAB, SSAB and Vattenfall, the three companies behind joint venture company Hyrbit which aims to produce fossil free steel to make LKAB and SSAB completely fossil fuel free by 2045. Hybrit’s challenges were discussed during the meeting and the three CEO’s pointed out the processing times for receiving governmental climate approvals were far too long. According to the three CEOs, current regulations would have to be reviewed while more resources have to be given to local authorities, which Baylan subsequently promised to do. If not, the CEO’s warned that the project could not be completed within the current time frame.
A less effusive analysis was published in Altinget, which writes that as a major shareholder in all three companies, the Swedish state stands to gain, financially and also reputationally if the project is a success. (SVT, Altinget)
A range of leading European companies and funds have invested into Swedish start-up H2 Green Steel, which aims to build the first large factory for emissions free production of steel. So far H2 Green Steel has landed investments of $105 million from the likes of the Agnell, Wallenberg and Maersk families as well as Mercedes Benz, Scania, Ikea and CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek. H2 Green Steel hopes to start production by 2024 in northern Sweden and aims to produce 5 million tonnes of emission free steel by 2030. “It’s the perfect mix of investors that we want to have,” said CEO of H2 Green Steel, Henrik Henriksson. “There is a willingness to help this industry transform, and an understanding that this is urgent. We can’t wait until 2050, we need to act now.” H2 Green Steel is a competitor to the above Hybrit project. (The Financial Times, paywall)
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we clip the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary, in English.