Tetra Pak, Scania and Hitachi Energy are examples of companies accompanying the Swedish delegation to the COP30 climate summit. They do not participate in the negotiations themselves, but are present in the Swedish pavilion, among other places.
We have countless bilateral meetings with important countries and actors, says Emma Modéer Wiking, Head of Sustainability at Business Sweden.
It happens that companies come home from meetings with signed agreements, but it is not primarily a sales trip, she points out.
It's not the sales managers from the companies who travel. It's CEOs, climate managers, sustainability managers and public affairs managers who can have these conversations with decision-makers.
Want to be serious
Modéer Wiking says that the business delegation is pursuing a serious climate agenda. At the same time, they are inviting people to climate karaoke during the meeting.
"We have seen that a forum for more informal conversations has been needed. Out of the 50–60 activities we do, we have two evenings specifically for networking between actors. It has been very good," she says.
To participate in the Swedish delegation, the actors must, among other things, sign an agreement to promote scientific solutions and policies to incorporate the Paris Agreement. This is not the case in all countries.
A report from Transparency International (TI) questions whether climate summits can be considered more like trade fairs. Of the 466 companies and industry associations surveyed that participated in climate summits over the past two years, 88 percent have not recently taken a position on the Paris Agreement, and only a third have expressed support for research-based action at the top level.
The finger of warning
There are examples of companies that even oppose measures against climate change, and in Baku last year, one of the Azerbaijani delegates was filmed promoting establishment in new gas fields.
Gvantsa Gverdtsiteli at TI writes in a comment to TT that the demands from Business Sweden are in line with what the organization thinks, but also raises a warning finger:
“We remain concerned about the gap between stated commitments and actual lobbying at the COP. We know that some companies may publicly support science-based climate action, but their political engagement and promotion of solutions often tell a different story,” she writes.
Adapteo, Afry, Alfa Laval, BCC, Climate View, Doconomy, EKN, Eon, Energy Agency, EQT, Flower, Hitachi Energy, Ingrid Capacity, Inter-Ikea, Minesto, Normative, Ragn-Sells, Scania, Sekab, Sida, Siemens Energy, SKF, Spowdi, SSAB, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Tetra Pak, Trustrace.
Source: Business Sweden
