LAUNCHING THE SWEDEN-US GREEN TRANSITION INITIATIVE: INNOVATION AND COOPERATION DRIVING THE ENERGY TRANSITION - The objective of the Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative is to accelerate Swedish-American partnerships in the green transition. The aim is to drive sustainability and to establish Sweden as a key partner for the US to transition towards a low carbon economy. The Green Transition Initiative will build on, and expand, Sweden´s existing activities and partnerships in the US within the green transition sector, ranging from the power sector, to transportation, heavy industry and sustainable buildings. The initiative will partner with the private sector, academia, innovators, and stakeholders on the federal and state level. The Green Transition Initiative is a joint initiative by Business Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency, Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova, and the Embassy of Sweden in Washington.

In both Sweden and the United States, a key lesson learned has been the importance of the private sector in both enacting where government action is lacking and pushing governments to create the regulations that steer markets in the right direction on climate. The demands from private investors that businesses align themselves with net-zero objectives under the ESG umbrella has produced tremendous growth in the green economy while also requiring action from regulators to guard against “greenwashing.” Meanwhile, corporate-led initiatives like the First Movers Coalition, which pledges business leaders to procure new decarbonizing technologies to guarantee a market for them, and Sweden’s Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), a forum in collaboration with India for industry leaders to partner with the public sectors on solutions to decarbonize the industrial sector, also stand out as private sector-led actions for which governments can offer support.

Panelists discussed the role of the Sweden-US Green Transition Initiative in driving the green transition as both governments and the private sector seek to ratchet up their climate ambitions at the national and international scale.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 3/31/2022