A seminary was held at the School of Business, Economics and Law on the theme of sustainable investments the morning of the awards ceremony. Joan Bavaria and Tessa Tennant described their work and experiences around investments.

They emphasised the importance of sustainable investments in Asia where huge investments are being made in both infrastructure and energy production. They also pointed out that investments made by pension funds should be steered towards sustainable investments – and cited Swedish pension funds as good examples.

From left to right: Joan Bavaria, Carl Bennet, Emma Lennartsson, Ola Löhman, Måns Lönnroth and Tessa Tennant.

The seminary concluded with a panel debate that included the prize winners, businessman Carl Bennet, the Minister for Finance’s State Secretary Emma Lennartsson, author Ola Löhman and MD for CSR Stockholm as well as Måns Lönnroth Chairman of the Research Institute Mistra.

In the afternoon the prize winners spoke with upper secondary school students and participated in Round Table discussions with partner companies at Universeum.

The Awards Ceremony

Lars Heikensten, Joan Bavaria and Tessa Tennant.

The City of Göteborg International Environment Prize was awarded for the fifth consecutive year. Moved to tears, this year’s prize winners Joan Bavaria, from the USA, and Tessa Tennant, from Great Britain, accepted the award from the Chairman of the Riksbank, Lars Heikensten. They share the one million Swedish crowns prize money for their ground-breaking contributions to the field “sustainable investments”.

In the presence of some hundred guests, Stefan Edman, the Chairman of the jury, began this year’s grand prize ceremony at Universeum by pointing out that The City of Göteborg International Environment Prize celebrates its fifth year. During these years it has become one of Sweden’s biggest and most prestigious environmental awards.

Economics that take the environment into account

What is unique for this year is that the prize is awarded to two economists. Joan Bavaria and Tessa Tennant are being recognised for using their investment companies to inspire other companies in ethical and environmental matters. Therefore, many of the evening’s speakers seized the opportunity to emphasise the importance of using financial incentives to end pollution.

“Economics and ecology are closely linked and both deal with economising resources. In order for our planet to flourish, the financial market needs to further adapt to the needs of the environment,” Stefan Edman pronounced in his speech about green market forces.   

Moved prize winners

The atmosphere was jubilant yet serious when the prize winners received the prize money, flowers and figurines.

“It’s wonderful to know that you support what we do. In the United States my work is not as well-known at the moment,” a visibly moved Joan Bavaria said in her acceptance speech.

Tessa Tennant thanked Sweden for its contributions to environmental matters and emphasized that investment funds in other countries have a lot to learn from, for example, the actions of the Swedish National Pension Funds.

Performance by the Amanda Choir

Carl Bennet and Göran Johansson

During the course of the evening the Chairman of the Municipal Executive Board, Göran Johansson, made a commitment to continue the award for at least another five years. Speeches were also made by Carl Bennet, environment prize jury member and Chairman of Elanders AB, and Rolf Wolff, Dean and Chairman of the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law. The Amanda Choir also performed.

Source: ”Vårt Göteborg”, 5 October 2004