Business Sweden’s sustainability report for 2020 summarises an eventful year marking significant achievements that will shape the organisation’s work for many years to come.
Sustainability is one of five key pillars in Business Sweden’s Strategy 2025 with a new focus on strategic ecosystems and promotional programmes linked to the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. In this new phase, the organisation has laid the groundwork for actively contributing to a green transformation, sustainable growth and international sustainable business.
The long-term goal of Business Sweden’s sustainability programme is to support Sweden’s goal of becoming the world’s first fossil-free welfare nation by 2045, and to ensure that the sustainability goals of the Paris Agreement are realised by 2030. Last year, around 485 companies were coached by Business Sweden’s global business developers in projects that had an important direct or indirect impact on the 17 sustainable development goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda.
Following the coronavirus outbreak and pandemic, Business Sweden reorganised its operations to help clients respond to lockdowns, travel restrictions and supply chain disruptions. The promotional activities gradually shifted toward new climate-smart business opportunities and green recovery.
Meanwhile, the organisation’s new code of conduct was fully implemented using obligatory, interactive e-learning for employees wordwide. Besides this, Business Sweden launched an internal sustainability network as a way of continuously boosting information sharing, building more synergies between markets and improving our ways of working when helping companies proactively address risks and avoid negative impacts.
In addition, we launched the new climate initiative Fossil Free by Sweden in collaboration with Team Sweden starting with comprehensive mapping of green business opportunities. This resulted in a project database of some 400 green projects in areas where Swedish companies are at the forefront and can play a key role for sustainable growth, with global solutions that address the climate crisis.
Get a full overview of how Business Sweden supports the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact, with particular emphasis on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Download the sustainability report for 2020.
