With a clear focus on action, Climate Week 2023 brought together more than 1,000 leaders from business, government and the climate sector in New York last week. While the theme this year was “We can. We Will,” discussions for our Skanska team centered around three key actions: Science Based Targets, scaling existing solutions and driving value in the supply chain.
Overall, the collective outlook among participants was that the solutions needed for companies, governments, and organizations to reach their sustainability goals are already here. It’s now time to implement and scale these solutions globally, in a way that adds value for all stakeholders.
Focusing on Science Based Targets
On Monday, Lena Hök, Skanska Executive Vice President for Sustainability and Innovation, joined investment bank DNB’s CEO Roundtable to discuss what Nordic countries are doing to maintain and strengthen their competitive positions. The discussions emphasized the role of Science Based Targets in achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.
Listen to our special podcast with interviews recorded live at Climate Week.
Scaling existing solutions
On Tuesday, we hosted a high-level dialog at our Empire State Building offices in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) and #BuildingtoCOP28 Coalition. We discussed the critical leadership action we need to see from all built environment stakeholders on climate, with a strong focus on the full value chain.
"It was clear to all of us around the table that the funding, data and innovation needed to execute already exist. We just need to work together to aggregate"
Driving value in the supply chain
On Wednesday we wrapped up a sustainable construction talk hosted by Saint-Gobain to discuss how industry leaders within the built environment can activate a comprehensive response to climate change, creating value for the entire supply chain. Collaboration, harmonization of standards and development of a global perspective were among top topics discussed.
In conclusion, Climate Week NYC 2023 underscored the need for unified action and the implementation of scalable solutions. As Lena Hök observed, one major advance for this year’s Climate Week was a shift from vision to action: “We are moving from talking about targets to delivering upon them. We need to take action, see what works, learn how to scale it and to keep moving forward.”
Get more insights into the discussions from Climate Week with our special podcast episode recorded live in New York during the event. Listen to our Climate Week special and all our season 1 episodes at https://foresight.skanska.com