Launch of New Partnership with the Climate Leadership Coalition
In The News
29 Jan 2019
On Wednesday 23 January EIT Climate-KIC welcomed the Climate Leadership Coalition as a new partner in its network at an official launch event for the partnership in Helsinki. The Coalition’s members had the opportunity to meet the leaders of EIT Climate-KIC and hear about the various opportunities opened up by the collaboration.
The Climate Leadership Coalition
The Climate Leadership Coalition (CLC) was founded in 2014 and is based in Helsinki, with 49 members across Finland. The Coalition aims to influence the competitiveness of Finnish business and research and their ability to respond to the challenges posed by climate change and the scarcity of natural resources. According to CLC, the best way to address the prevailing environmental challenges is through profitable, sustainable businesses. The Coalition officially joined EIT Climate-KIC’s network of partners in 2018.
Meeting the Leaders
Jouni Keronen, Executive Director of the Climate Leadership Coalition, and Henrik Ehrnrooth, Chairman of the Board at the Climate Leadership Coalition and Pöyry, offered the opening words of welcome to the participants of the event followed by Chairman of EIT Climate-KIC Anders Wijkman extending his welcome to the EIT Climate-KIC community.
The membership launch event had a strong focus on systems innovation and transformational activities both among cities and businesses and on their role in achieving long-term systemic change. As part of this focus, Chief Executive Officer of EIT Climate-KIC, Kirsten Dunlop, outlined the vision and the new 2019–22 strategy for EIT Climate-KIC. In order to meet the 1.5°C target, breakthrough and disruptive innovations are required and “Climate-KIC is placing itself as a guinea pig in the front, testing unchartered waters and looking for unpredictable dynamics of change, as non-linearity and unpredictability are indicators of success for innovation”, Dunlop outlined. The collaboration with CLC adds to this vision through value creation across the Coalition and its members.
Another topic high on the agenda and especially relevant for the Nordic countries was Sustainable Land Use and EIT Climate-KIC’s newly launched Forestry Flagship Programme. Daniel Zimmer, Theme Director on Sustainable Land Use, presented the new forestry flagship, which focuses on accelerating innovative bio-economy value chains that are based on sustainable and resilient forest management that support climate-resilient forests.
Collaboration in the Nordics
The Climate Leadership Coalition joined a community of 32 Nordic EIT Climate-KIC partners, with 19% of the partners based in Finland. At the launch, Susanne Pedersen, Nordic Director of EIT Climate-KIC, outlined the Nordic activities and collaborations in the region. One of the major projects include the Nordic Wood in Construction project initiated by the Swedish Government and the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2018, led by the secretariat and hosted by EIT Climate-KIC Nordic. The primary aim of the project is to support further development of the use of wood in construction in the Nordic countries. Another focus area in the Nordics include Circular Economy activities, including the EIT Climate-KIC Circular Cities project, which recently published a report on municipality-led circular economy case studies in collaboration with C40 Cities, and the Circular Economy Learning Centre to name a few examples.
Applications for Nordic Spring Accelerator now open!
EIT Climate-KIC supports climate entrepreneurs with funding, training and a global network, accelerating their business with improved success rates and bigger impact. The Nordic Accelerator programme offers a rapid development of a start-up for maximum business potential and climate impact. The Nordic Spring Accelerator intake is now open for applications with a deadline on 15 February. For more information on the Accelerator and the application process, please visit the Nordic Accelerator webpage.