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How Nordic Governments Can help Women in Africa to achieve Sustainable Development Goals

Ayoub Hameedi

When it comes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, the responsibility lies on each and everyone of us whether we live in developed, rapidly developing or under-developed parts of the world. The situation is particularly serious for some regions where the potential of women is under-utilized because they have to fetch resources to make ends meet. So, is the case with women in Africa where they represent half of the growing population however their role in education and participation in economic activities is extremely restricted due to tasks like fetching water and firewood to satisfy basic needs on daily basis. It is quite unfortunate to mention here that women in the region of sub-Saharan Africa spend 40 billion hours on annual basis to fetch water and firewood. Now if we would quantify the number of hours in financial terms as USD 1.5 per hour, it would make USD 60 billion on annual basis, an amount too hefty that if invested can resolve a lion’s share of socio-economic and environmental issues on permanent basis in Africa. 

The answers to these problems lies in empowering women in Africa to install solar photovoltaics , micro wind turbines , harvest rain water and to afforest & reforest areas on a large scale. By doing so, the continent will be in an even better state to offer life transforming opportunities to its residents. The given suggestion is both realistic and feasible provided time, expertise, financial resource and an effective follow-up are channelized in this direction. It is important to mention here that 600 million Africans still lives without electricity. It is a major development challenge that affects all areas of life in the Africa. It might not be wrong to say that lack of access to electricity pushes people to satisfy their heating and light demand through deforestation. Apart from unsustainable use of forests, lack of an adequate source of power supply deprives Africans from hours after sunset for education. This factor then limits the role of Africans in economic progress of Africa.

Expansion of solar photovoltaics can provide clean electricity to energy deprived masses in Africa without compromising on other available natural resources. It can also prove to be an excellent window of opportunity for Scandinavian companies to empower women by giving them the opportunity to install solar photovoltaic panels, micro wind turbines, afforest areas and then to use these resources to gain education to unlock doors that would otherwise be closed for them.  Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus has installed over 1 million solar home systems in Bangladesh and thus can prove to be an excellent helping hand to Scandinavian Governments and Africa in this regard. He is the founder of Grameen Shakti that has installed 1 million solar home systems in Bangladesh and now provides clean electricity to 8 million masses in the country. The already spoken issues are inter-connected therefore working on one problem will certainly help us in solving others too. Electricity supply through clean sources will reduce reliance on forest as a mean to obtain heat and light. It would then lead to a healthy forest cover in Africa that would certainly help us to mitigate climate change.

All in all, a loss of 40 billion hours on annual basis in sub-saharan Africa means a loss of USD 60 billion, if each hour is waged at USD 1.5. Over a decade, the total figure would a whooping 400 billion hours and a staggering USD 600 billion. An amount too big that it can practically solve a lion’s share of socio-economic and environmental issues in African continent. The aforementioned figure represents the potential of women in Africa that if harvested properly can introduce a sustainable change in the lives of residents in Africa. Together, we can work with one community at a time, introducing sustainable change that would then sweep through whole of the continent eventually providing clean electricity to all of the electricity poor masses in Africa. It might take 2 – 3 decades, but once achieved would prove to be a remarkable step when it comes to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.  

© Copyright 2018 Ayoub Hameedi. All rights reserved.

How Swedish Pension Agency can help countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Ayoub Hameedi

Pension funds play an important role in sustaining the growth of an economy as the financial resource from funds are invested in companies and projects to boost economic growth and create more jobs. This way both employment, smooth functioning of companies are ensured, interests on invested resource is guaranteed and government then has an opportunity to get tax which then allow it to provide services pertinent to sustain any society. The pension fund in consideration for this report is Swedish Pension Agency. It had invested 31% of its total fund within premium system (for FY 2016) in projects related to sustainable development. It is encouraging to note that the aforementioned figure observed a healthy increase of 19% since 2010 when the figure for sustainable investment stood at a mere 12%. Again, it is extremely positive to note that the half of the invested funds within Sweden are sustainable in nature however, only 15% of the funds invested abroad are classified as sustainable. This resembles a strong contrast between the investment policy that exist in Sweden and the investment policy developed for the sake of financial investment in overseas projects. It is important to close this existing gap as it will certainly help Swedish pension agency to enhance sustainability in its financial operations within the borders of Sweden and beyond. It will also help the respective countries where the funds are invested to achieve a higher level when it comes to the implementation of sustainable development goals. An increase in the share of sustainability funds in overseas projects will certainly develop a soft corner for Sweden that might also lead to more trade and business activities. It might also open new window of opportunities to create more sustainability related jobs in Sweden as well.

A number of business sectors to consider when it comes to increasing the share of sustainable funds abroad are clean energy technologies as the clean technologies are getting maturer with each passing year and certainly becoming price competitive as well. Moreover, investment in public transport to encourage more and more people to take public transport will certainly help Swedish pension agency to reduce its overall greenhouse gases emission as well. The positive steps taken overseas will facilitate Swedish pension agency to reduce its environmental footprint. Besides that, infrastructural improvements that would eventually create more jobs in respective countries and improve quality of life is another area to consider within sustainability.

In addition to premium fund, there are four different categories of funds namely trusts, fixed income, other funds and generations fund. The Swedish pension agency has invested 29% of its funds to promote sustainable development in the trust fund, followed by a 34% of funds investment in sustainability projects in fixed income category. The same figure is 24% for other fund and lastly 62% of funds are channelized to promote sustainable development in generations fund. The percentage of green investment in generations fund represents a very healthy figure however, same can be the case for trusts, fixed income and other funds too. A mere increase of 5% in each of 3 funds type (trust, fixed income & other funds) on initial basis will certainly enhance the implementation of sustainability within Swedish pension agency as an organization at national and international level. It is a commonly known fact that small steps in the right direction over a sustained period of time produce compounded positive results. Overall, Swedish pension agency has healthy double figures for green investments in all of the already spoken funds however Generations fund is an example to consider that Swedish pension agency can certainly replicate for rest of funds too.

© Copyright 2018 Ayoub Hameedi. All rights reserved.

How ATP can promote solar and wind energy technologies in Denmark & the rest of Scandinavia

Ayoub Hameedi

Pension funds play a vibrant role in sustaining the growth of an economy. It is basically a fund that ensures financial security to working masses during their professional career and then ensures pensions once they get retired. ATP Denmark is one of the most prominent players in Europe with a membership figure of over 5 million and financial assets worth over DKK 768.6 billion to manage. It must be appreciated that the management team at ATP Denmark decided to invest DKK 1.5 billion in green bonds that are an essential source to increase financial investments for projects meant to increase sustainability within a society. ATP Denmark has also invested in Vestas, a Danish company playing a vibrant role in the promotion of wind power across the globe. It is important to mention here that Vestas has installed over 59,000 wind turbines in 70 countries across the globe. However there is dire need for ATP Denmark to invest more money in green bonds in the coming years as the magnitude of the assets it manages can elevate sustainable development to new heights within Denmark and in countries across Scandinavia. It is important to highlight here that Alecta is a Swedish Pension Fund with financial assets worth SEK 774 billion to manage. It has invested SEK 7 billion in green bonds. Alecta might be slightly smaller in size when compared with ATP Denmark as the financial worth of Danish currency (DKK) is slightly higher than the financial worth of Swedish krona (SEK). It means that following a similar course that Alecta took, ATP Denmark can choose to increase its investment in green bonds up to around four to five-fold (i.e. DKK 6 – 7.5 billion) by 2023.

ATP Denmark can choose to invest money to promote solar and wind energy technology within Denmark and in rest of Scandinavia. The management team at ATP Denmark can consider following ideas, if haven’t already for the purpose of financial investment:

i) The installed solar photovoltaic capacity was 851 MWs at the end of 2016 in Denmark. ATP Denmark can invest financial resources to upscale the installed solar photovoltaic capacity to 3 GWs by 2023. A proper planning where individual households in Denmark would be motivated to installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on their rooftops will certainly help ATP to earn good revenue on their investment for the coming 2 – 2.5 decades. Depending on  the agreement, it will help ATP to save cost on the purchase of land as the surface area of the rooftops will serve the purpose. In addition, the surplus electricity generated through solar PV will be another source of revenue for ATP Denmark.

ii) Likewise, the total installed wind power capacity in Denmark was 5,251 MWs at the end of 2016. ATP Denmark can choose to upscale the installed wind power capacity to 7 GWS by 2023. In the case of wind power, it would be financially feasible to invest money on off-shore wind farms where wind turbines with higher output capacities can be installed to produce more electricity from the available infrastructure.

iii) ATP Denmark can also choose to invest money to develope off-shore wind farms in Sweden and Norway where the offshore wind power potential is still underutilized. The generated electricity can then be sold to Swedish Government to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. There are ample chances that Swedish Government would be fairly interested in the project as it will facilitate the political administration in achieving its goal of a carbon-neutral Sweden by 2045. In case of Norway, an estimated off-shore wind power potential exists between 4.6 GWs to 12.6 GWs however, the install wind power capacity is around 873 MWs (at the end of 2015). Norway generates around 99% of electricity from hydropower. Therefore, this underutilized offshore wind power potential in Norway serves as a good investment opportunity for ATP Denmark to avail. As per Swedish Energy Agency, total installed wind power capacity in Sweden was 6.52 GWs at the end of 2016. Again, ATP Denmark can invest financial resources to upscale it to 9 GWs through establishing new wind farms and upgrading the existing ones by 2023. Installed solar pv in Sweden was 175 MWs at the end of 2016, ATP Denmark can again invest money to upscale it to 3 GWs by 2023.

iv) Likewise, Greenland relies extensively on fossil fuels for the sake of power production. ATP Denmark can choose to construct waste-to-energy power plants in Greenland so that the municipal solid waste generated in Greenland can then be used for clean electricity production. ATP Denmark can also invest money on importing waste from Canada and Iceland for power production in Greenland.

v) Similarly, ATP Denmark can also construct waste-to-energy power plants in Finland to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. To operate the waste-to-energy power plants, ATP Denmark can import municipal solid waste for Russia that would help Russia to deal with its waste problem in a sustainable manner and would certainly facilitate Finland to produce clean power from waste. Moreover, the total number of installed wind turbines in Finland was 700 at the end of 2017 where the average output capacity of each turbine was between 2.9 – 3.3 MWs. Now, if ATP Denmark would invest money to upgrade each of the installed turbine up to a megawatt, it will add another 700 MWs to the total installed wind power capacity in Finland.

All of the above recommendations are realistic and feasible and if turned into reality will certainly help ATP Denmark in up-scaling the implementation of sustainability in its financial operations. It is important to mention here that renewable energy technology is an excellent business opportunity to invest money in as clean power generation is a key strategy to mitigate climate change. The promotion of clean energy technologies will also ensure a low-carbon future for us and our coming generations. Lastly, electricity is a commodity we cannot afford to live without and in a world with a changing climate, clean electricity is not a luxury rather a necessity to have.

© Copyright 2018 Ayoub Hameedi. All rights reserved.

How Alecta can boost the installed Wind Power capacity in Sweden

Ayoub Hameedi

Alecta is a key player when it comes to asset management within Europe and in Sweden. It was founded in 1917 and currently manages assets worth SEK 774 billion for 2.3 million private customers and over 34,000 corporate customers. It focuses on occupational pensions to provide financial security to masses during the working lifespan and afterwards. Alecta distributed pensions worth SEK 19.8 billion in year 2016. Due to its sheer volume in terms of asset management, it would be financially feasible to say that Alecta has the potential to introduce sustainable change when it comes to increasing the share of wind power in the overall energy mix of Sweden. By the end of 2016, the asset management fund had invested SEK 7 billion in green bonds that represented a green financial investment of around 1% (i.e. SEK 7 billion / SEK 774 billion) when it comes to the cumulative management of assets under the portfolio of Alecta. This represents an area where Alecta can certainly create a positive difference and that’s what this report is about.

By investing more financial resource to promote wind power, Alecta will increase the implementation of sustainability within its operations and will also help the Swedish Government to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. Most importantly, it will certainly empower the management team with a renewed confidence that Alecta is contributing equally to all three pillars of sustainable development. The government would naturally be interested as it has an ambitious plan to achieve carbon-neutral status for Sweden by 2045 and the given strategy will certainly comes under the umbrella of New Climate Act.

Alecta can take three concrete actions to increase the share of wind power in the overall energy mix of Sweden.

i) First and foremost of which is to invest financial resources to upgrade already installed wind turbines up to a megawatt each. There are over 3,000 wind turbines installed in the length and breadth of Sweden. Thus if each of the installed turbine is upgraded a megawatt, it  will increase the already installed wind power capacity up to 3 GWs.

ii) In the second phase, Alecta in collaboration with the Government can choose to invest money to setup off-shore wind farms along the coast of Sweden. It is important to mention here that Sweden primarily relies on on-shore wind power and certainly needs to increase its installed offshore wind power capacity. The number of installed wind turbines in off-shore areas was a mere 74 with an output capacity of 190 MWs in June 2016.  A competitive advantage that offshore farms provide over onshore farms is that larger turbines can be installed in seas / oceans to harvest the  potential of wind. By choosing to invest money to up-scale the installed off-shore wind power capacity up to 2 GWs, Alecta will certainly raise the collective installed wind power capacity in Sweden to a figure of 5 GWs.

iii) In the third & last phase, Alecta can again choose to install vertical axis wind turbines that are smaller in size than conventional wind turbines in the urban and rural areas of Sweden. By investing in vertical axis wind turbine projects of 1 GWs output capacity, Alecta will certainly add a cumulative of 6 GWs of wind power to the already installed wind power in Sweden. A successful implementation of the already spoken plan will help the Government to decommission an equivalent of installed nuclear power in Sweden. In terms of figures, it will be equivalent of decommissioning around 66% of the installed nuclear power capacity in Sweden. The current total installed nuclear power is around 9.5 GWs in Sweden.

An important point to mention here that upgrading already installed wind turbines, followed by 2 GWs of offshore wind power and another gigawatt of vertical axis wind turbines would certainly require facilities where the produced electricity could be stored and distributed as and when required in the transmission system. To accomplish this target, Elon Musk has the answer as he has delivered one such facility with 100 MWs capacity in South Australia. For this strategy, the Swedish Government can assign Musk an ambitious target to install multiple interconnected battery farms across Sweden where the clean electricity generated from proposed plan could be stored and delivered all across the country.

Moving on to the most important question where would we generate the financial resource to transform the already spoken strategy into reality. As mentioned earlier, Alecta manages assets worth SEK 774 billion and had invested 7 billions in green bonds. The green investment represented only 1% of the assets Alecta manages under its financial portfolio. By increasing the green investment five-fold (i.e. from SEK 7 billion to SEK 35 billion) Alecta would be in a position to transform the aforementioned strategy into reality. Most importantly, having an adequate access to clean electricity is a must and a commodity one cannot live without. So the financial returns on the invested sum will be guaranteed too. Alecta was created during world war I (WWI) and has experienced the horrific experiences of world war II. It is over a century old company and has thus the right skills and experience to turn the proposed plan into reality. It will create a win-win situation for every involved stakeholder as Alecta will increase the implementation of sustainability in its investment portfolio and Swedish Government would boost the share of wind power and thus would decommission an equivalent of 6 GWs of nuclear power.  Summing up all, the already spoken plan is both realistic and feasible, provided Alecta and Swedish Government would invest proper time, physical expertise and financial resource to implement the strategy.

© Copyright 2018 Ayoub Hameedi. All rights reserved.