Sustainability and Corporate Governance Report 202
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HOW TO EQUIP OURSELVES FOR A CHANGING WORLD – HAN
DELSBANKEN FONDER Growing cities can create new opportunities for economic growth. But they can also bring about social challenges and pressures on our ecosystem. Creating sustainable cities and communities is one of the goals in the 2030 Agenda. Our prosperity and progress in health care mean that more people can live longer. Although this is one of humanity’s greatest successes, it is also one of the greatest challenges of our time. By 2050, upwards of an additional 2 billion people will need access to food, water, housing, jobs and health care. This means that we are in dire need of productivity increases, both to become better equipped to safeguard the planet’s resources and to meet the needs of a growing population. “ We need to work towards a carbon-neutral economy, but we also have to deal with the consequences of an already changing climate. We’ve also got to understand how demographic changes and lifestyles affect the world around us and the development towards a sustainable future.” Karin Askelöf, Head of Sustainability, Handelsbanken Fonder Today more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion is expected to rise to 70 per cent by 2050. At the same time, cities make up barely 2 per cent of the earth’s surface yet account for about 70 per cent of emissions.11 Our advances in digitalisation and AI are opening new doors, enabling us to take significant steps towards a more sustainable future including the development of smart connected cities. By using new technologies, we can eliminate our dependency on cars and instead turn to public transport and other mobility services; heating can be driven by renewable sources; and modern digital solutions can help us to plan and build more inclusive, vibrant spaces. We live in a world of constant flux. This requires us as asset managers to follow rapid shifts and to manage, and possibly even anticipate, the unpredictable. By securing opportunities that emerge while avoiding risks, we can help enable a richer future. 47