Nordic industry accelerates its climate investment

If you had any doubts about the extent and pace of the climate transformation going on in the Nordics, its getting even harder to argue with this week's facts. Actually, its hard to know which story to lead with. Normally the tabling of a plan to see Sweden stop selling any fossil fuels in 19 years time would get a top billing. But, we think yesterday’s announcement by Heidelberg Cement Group that it plans to locate the world’s first fossil free cement factory on the Swedish island of Gotland wins out for sheer commercial audacity. Despite the fact that around 8% of global emissions come from the production of concrete, it has been seen as one of the hardest areas to tackle. The Heidelberg plan, which calls for capturing, transport and burial of the CO2 released, is a step forward for the global construction industry, and therefore wins top spot. Perhaps that’s somewhat unfair for Denmark’s Ørsted, which said it was looking to spend USD 57 billion on renewables in the next decade. That’s the sort of budget normally presented by Big Oil, but oil has its own problems, and is fighting to stay relevant, as we explore in our blog.

This week's Top 10;

1. "World first" climate-neutral cement factory to be built on Gotland
2. Ørsted to spend DKK 350 billion on renewable energy
3. CWP and Mauritania sign MoU to develop $40 billion green hydrogen project
4. Scatec makes USD billion investment in South Africa
5. Swedish inquiry recommends phasing out fossil fuels by 2040
6. Ørsted wants a net-positive biodiversity impact from new development projects
7. Five EU states join Swedish initiative on EU state aid
8. Vattenfall becomes a minority owner in the Estonian nuclear power company, Fermi Energia
9. Alfa Laval takes record order in renewable energy
10. Nasdaq buys Finnish carbon removals platform Puro.earth

For all Nordic green updates see our daily news.