The 2016 award went to Örebro kommun and Region Västmanland for both institutions’ holistic approach to sustainability, appreciating that the assets they manage and capital they issue has an impact on climate and society as well as ethical aspects. They have taken an organization-wide approach on how to become more sustainable by collaborating across departments such as finance and the environment. More recently linking their work to Agenda 2030 where incorporating ESG and reducing CO2 emissions in their financial investments is a large part of this. They have taken a leadership role by being early adopters and generously shared their work and insights with other institutions.
Örebro kommun was the first Swedish municipality, and the 30th globally, to divest fossil fuels and has the ambition to be climate neutral by 2030. Örebro was also the second Swedish municipality to issue a green bond and green finances are a focus area in their overall climate strategy.
Region Västmanland was the first city council to conduct an internal CO2-screening after which their portfolio emissions was reduced by a third without sacrificing performance. They have developed an internal model for fund manager evaluation based on an annual ESG-questionnaire. The information is the basis for fund manager review and internal discussion.
The award was accepted by Hanna Arneson, Sustainabilitystrategist green finances Örebro kommun and Björn Sundin, Municipal commissioner community planning, Örebro kommun, as well as Fredrik Holst, Head of finance Region Västmanland.
CFA Sweden would like to thank the members of the ESG-jury for their committment: Filippa Bergin (Head of sustainability, Storebrand), Hanna Roberts (CEO, GES), Henrik Malmsten (CEO, Durable Vision Invest) and John Howchin (Secretary general, Etikrådet).
ESG (environmental, social and governance) refers to the three main areas of concern that have developed as central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of investments. ESG represents concepts and approaches that influences and governs how asset managers construct portfolios and evaluate investments, examples include carbon footprint, board .independence, codes of conduct.
