‘It’s time for all to walk the talk, not just the innovators’ – Spowdi’s CEO at Climate Week NYC

Spowdi’s CEO Henrik Johansson is featured in an article by Swedish news site Impact Loop, discussing his and Spowdi’s participation at New York Climate Week. In the article, he discusses the agenda and insights from the summit, as well as what the future focus for COP29 is. Below is a translated excerpt form the Swedish article:

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Henrik Johansson, CEO at green-tech company Spowdi which makes solar-powered irrigation systems for small-hold farmers:

What has been your agenda at New York Climate Week?

“We are part of the Swedish delegation, but we also have our own purpose. I feel that it’s the same talk now as last year – that the money is there, and we need to act. But people are still standing with graphs, talking about population growth and reducing emissions. In other words, about the problems. We want to move away from that and become a counterpoint. We want the focus to shift towards the solutions that already exist. We want people to learn from what has been done and what results and effects it has achieved. Stop talking and start delivering instead.”

“In our sector, the money often comes in the form of aid, which hasn’t worked over the years, and now people are unsure of how to act. We’ve created a scalable model to transition small-hold farming to long-term, sustainable practices where technical prerequisites, an implementation organization, financing, and governance are required to enable farmers, creating a commercially scalable setup. We shouldn’t invest any money where there isn’t a commercial mindset; otherwise, there will be no impact.”

Do the discussions or focus differ from those in Sweden?

“The Swedish rhetoric is very much about how we are the best in the class, but we are bad at listening to what others want and how we enable others to also become the best in the class. I find it alarming that, as a Swedish green tech company, we have to be the driving force in creating the models needed around financing and distribution to scale up small-hold sustainable farming in developing countries. I think it’s good that the private sector is leading the charge, but large global companies need to take the lead in spreading these solutions widely. For example, a company like Deloitte, which is everywhere and has access to decision-makers in all relevant sectors. Then we could focus on developing new versions of our product.”

What do you take away from the week?

“We will also participate in COP29, where we’ll hold a workshop with actors representing all the stakeholders needed to create concrete initiatives for achieving sustainable small-hold farming for the future. After running around and meeting new people, I believe we have found the right group to leave COP29 with decisions and be ready to get out of the starting blocks.”

Find Impact Loop’s full article in Swedish here.