The CEOs presented their vision for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through greater public-private sector collaboration and the transition to purpose-driven business practices. The alliance will initially focus on climate action, and diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

The meetings formed part of the Nordic Council of Ministers' session held in Reykjavik, Iceland, this week.

Integrating development goals into business strategies

The CEOs are committed to integrating the development goals into their business activities and decision-making, incorporating sustainability into their own policies and across their value chains.

Recognizing that the 2030 deadline for achieving the development goals is fast approaching, the companies are in particular looking at strengthening their efforts in climate change and diversity and inclusion.

This will include:

• Identifying scalable solutions across their value chains to accelerate reduction of emissions and collaborating on joint emission reduction efforts with other companies in the alliance.
• Strengthening common reporting on diversity and inclusion, using the insights gained to share best practices across the region, and joining forces on actions to improve.

Nordic CEOs for a Sustainable Future was created in 2018 to inspire joint leadership and action towards delivery of the SDGs in the Nordic region. The industry leaders in the group represent companies that have collective annual revenues of more than EUR 110 billion, directly employing more than 290,000 people around the world, with operations in 119 countries, serving hundreds of millions of citizens every day.

"Sustainable development is the biggest challenge of our time. We need to join forces and find solutions together. In the Nordics we have a history of strong collaboration between government and private sector to develop viable societies. We believe that The Nordic CEOs for a Sustainable Future can play an important role in this going forward. In climate change and diversity, we are in a position to drive change not only in the Nordics, but globally - within our companies and the world around us," says Hilde Merete Aasheim, President & CEO of Hydro.

Companies represented in the group include Equinor, GSMA, Hydro, Íslandsbanki, Marel, Nokia, Posten Norge, SAS, Storebrand, Swedbank, Telenor, Telia, Vestas and Yara.

For more information, visit: nordic-ceos.com