This year’s NordicSIF conference attracted 220 participants, addressing the wide theme of “Future of Humanity”. It was set in a context of the global Sustainable Development Goals, our common compass for long-term systemic change. It included a deep-dive into four key topics: (1) The role of consumption, health and technology, (2) Peace and war, (3) Justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, and (4) A stalled climate transition.
The conference opened with a resounding call for long-term thinking in a short-term world. Moderator Katrine Kielos referred to David Attenborough who said: “The future of humanity and indeed all life on Earth now depends on us.” In a world driven by quarterly results and political cycles, Kielos challenged attendees to think bigger: What is the true purpose of capital? Recounting a personal moment from being faced with this question by an investor, she recalled being struck by the investor’s firm opinion: “The purpose of capital is to support life.” This foundational insight set the tone for the conference’s central theme and its significance for Nordic investors.
Keynote by Dr. Gunhild Stordalen
Food, Health, and Climate – Laying the Foundation for the Future of Humanity
Dr. Gunhild A. Stordalen, co-founder and executive chair of the EAT Foundation, delivered a clear and urgent message to the investor audience: if we fail to fix the global food system, we fail to secure a liveable future.
Dr. Stordalen argued that food is often an afterthought in climate discussions, despite being the number one culprit for the transgression of the planetary boundaries. She presented the work of the EAT-Lancet Commission, the first scientific collaboration to integrate health and environmental considerations into a unified dietary framework. This has led to the concept of the Planetary Health Diet — a largely plant-based eating model designed to feed 10 billion people sustainably. According to Stordalen, transitioning to such a model could save 11 million lives each year and unlock $10 trillion in economic benefits, most of which would come from health improvements.
The financial sector, she emphasized, has a crucial role to play. She called for a redirection of capital toward regenerative agriculture, food waste reduction, and sustainable diets. This would require reshaping public subsidies, developing new investment metrics that account for climate and health risks, and building stronger public-private partnerships. Stordalen pointed to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which now assesses natural capital risks across 96 percent of its portfolio, as a model for how large-scale investment can evolve beyond traditional ESG standards.
With 162 countries now pledging to integrate food systems into climate strategies (as an outcome of COP23), momentum is building. However, she stressed that bold government action and serious financial commitment are still lacking. The upcoming EAT-Lancet 2.0 report, launching in Stockholm in October 2025, aims to provide an updated global framework to guide this transition.
Dr. Stordalen left the audience with the message that investors must recognize food as both a systems risk and a systems opportunity, and concluded with a question: “What will you do?”
Fireside Chat: Future Generations
In the ensuing fireside chat, UNICEF Innocenti’s Bo Viktor Nylund and Global Child Forum’s Nina Vollmer offered a generational lens on sustainability. They highlighted digital risks, educational inequality, and child rights as critical considerations for investors. With Africa expected to house 40% of the world’s children by 2050, investors must engage globally and systemically.
Key insights for investors included the value of family-friendly policies, nutrition, and digital inclusion—areas where finance can have outsized, long-term impact. Investors were urged to stop “adult guessing” and start listening to children. Data scarcity must not block action; qualitative and context-specific insights can guide responsible investment that prioritizes future generations. Nina Vollmer highlighted that child labour continues to be a big problem, and urged investors to think about it in systems: Why is it happening and what is our role in it.
Sustainable Living – The Role of Consumption, Health & Technology
Keynote speaker Karin Tegmark Wisell, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health, emphasized that health is not just an individual matter—it is a systemic issue that impacts productivity, resilience, and equity. Public health is a prerequisite for global health, and with a 2 % increase in investment we can reach “50 by 50”, that is a 50% reduction in the probability of premature death (before age 70) by 2050. Investors should consider that returns on public health investments are real, measurable, and replicable.
The panellists, including Avanti Gupta of Access to Medicine Foundation, Mathias Wikström of Doconomy, and David Seekell of Atle and HealthInvest, urged investors to engage with the health sector through active ownership, support for early-stage health innovation, and by addressing global disparities. Notably, speakers highlighted that inclusive access to medicine and improved diets are both social and climate imperatives. Air quality, antibiotic resistance, and access to digital health are all investable themes with measurable impact. The clear message for sustainable investors: reframe health as an investable system risk and opportunity and use capital as a lever to drive both equity and resilience.
Peace and War – Responsible Investments
This panel was set against a backdrop of geopolitical instability. In his keynote address, Jakob Hallgren of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs outlined shifting global power dynamics and the need for greater European capacity. He pointed out that we all have responsibility and we all have agency.
Betrice Fihn, former Secretary General of ICAN, urged investors to move beyond emotional responses, and make sure to base decisions on facts and science. Eva Axelsson of Saab advocated for constructive engagement, noting the sector’s need for sustainability scrutiny in everything from climate to human rights and corruption. Jenny Gustavsson from the Ethical Council of the Swedish National Pension Funds suggested that in this complex situation investors need to hold on to a values-based approach: “Go back to who you are as an investor and what promises and commitments you have given to your clients. Revisit your red lines.”
Transparency, integrity, and contextual nuance emerged as essential investor tools. Ulrik Åshuvud of Transparency International pointed out that corruption affects every other sustainability issue. He invited investors to apply to be part of the Investor Integrity Forum.
The Nordic JEDI Warrior – Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI)
Led by Aygül Kabaca, the keynote redefined inclusion beyond “doing the right thing”, to see it as strategic resilience. DEI is a structural issue with material implications. Nordic exceptionalism must be earned, not assumed, argued Danske Bank’s Oshni Arachchi. She pointed out that there isn’t as much of a shared understanding of DEI within the investment community as we might think. Fredrik Hillelson of Novare emphasized the need to rethink biased recruitment and the lack of diversity in leadership. Data gaps—especially regarding ethnicity—remain a challenge in Sweden, but must not prevent progress. Emma Sjöström of Stockholm School of Economics and AP7 called for rigorous, unbiased research to understand the true business case for DEI.
The panel encouraged investors to not solely focus on demographic diversity, but also cognitive diversity and psychological safety. The takeaway: inclusion enhances problem-solving, innovation, and trust—core drivers of long-term financial returns.
A Stalled Climate Transition
This session highlighted the systemic risks of inaction and the untapped opportunities in climate transition. Keynote speaker Fedra Vanhuyse from SEI warned that current financial models underprice climate risks, especially compound risks like droughts followed by floods. Investors must demand better risk tools and advocate for policy reform that aligns incentives with climate goals.
Mattias Frumerie, Sweden’s Head of Delegation to the UNFCCC, expressed that he is hopeful: All countries are expected to deliver NDCs this year, and they are increasing their ambitions. He senses a shift in the global conversation from doom to opportunities, and pointed out that Nordic actors have solutions, technology and financing. Nordea’s Peter Sandahl stressed that climate change needs to be put on the balance sheet of banks. He added that Nordic investors have been trailblazing for decades: “Stay firm in your leadership and use your voice”.
Sami Council’s Elle Merete Omma challenged investors to include Indigenous voices in climate risk frameworks, noting that decarbonization tools must not perpetuate historical injustices (and that “respect” is not a slogan). She noted that Indigenous people are among the most effective stewards of nature and should be seen as part of the solution.
Closing Reflections
In her final remarks, Swesif board chair Jenny Ahrén concluded that there seems to be a common theme in the conference discussions around a return to core values. She emphasized that sustainable finance must rediscover its foundational purpose, and reiterated the earlier point that the investment community is like the tip of the spear: where the tip goes the rest of the spear follows.
Save the date
The next NordicSIF will take place in Helsinki on August 25, 2026.
Emma Sjöström, Swesif Board Member
