Investing in people and the planet
◆ Rosemary Gallagher attends the Scottish National Investment Bank’s annual conference
More than 230 delegates attended the Scottish National Investment Bank’s annual flagship conference earlier this month to hear from a variety of speakers on the topic of Investing with Impact: Innovating Across Scotland.
The full-day event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) on Monday, 4 March, in association with The Scotsman and Insider Media, brought together representatives from the Bank, organisations involved in delivering projects with a positive impact, and experts on investing for the collective good.
Since its launch in 2020 the Bank has committed direct investment of £518 million to help create a “stronger, fairer and more sustainable” Scotland. A further £824m has been attracted from other sources, meaning the Scottish economy has benefited to the tune of £1.3 billion.
Al Denholm, chief executive of the Bank, told the EICC audience: “All of our investments must meet the aims of at least one of our three missions – to support Scotland on its journey to net-zero, improve places and communities, or to harness innovation.
“Of course, many of our investments cross into more than one of those missions.”
Denholm referred to the Bank’s paper, A Just Transition: Putting People First, which was launched on the day of the conference, explaining: “As we move away from an energy sector that is dependent on fossil fuels to greener, renewable energies, a ‘just transition’ is one where we actively build opportunities to create a fairer, more prosperous economy that puts people and planet first, ensuring that no-one is left behind.”
The Bank’s new strategy document presents the scale of the just transition opportunity. With the offshore energy industry representing almost one in every 200 UK jobs – and around one in 30 in Scotland – the paper states the sector has a critical role to play in leading the transition to a lower carbon future. It says up to 225,000 direct and indirect offshore energy jobs could be created by 2030, up from around 154,000 today.
Conference keynote speaker was futurist and visionary thinker Anne Lise Kjaer, who created the 4P Model of People, Planet, Purpose and Performance to guide clients, including the BBC and UNICEF, in their strategy and vision work.
She told delegates why curiosity, creativity and collaboration matter in
A ‘just transition’ is one where we actively build opportunities to create a fairer, more prosperous economy that puts people and planet first
achieving good impacts, saying: “Short-termism is one of the greatest challenges facing communities and the whole planet.”
She supported this point with research findings that 40 per cent of chief executives agree short-term shareholders are the greatest threat to corporate values.
Kjaer went on to share case studies and other examples to help individuals think about the future in a positive way that balances people and planet. These included civic investment in the Canadian city of Calgary, Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, and Finland being named the world’s happiest country.
In her summing up, Kjaer said her four key takeaways are to be the human interface, build multi-staker alliances, inspire legacy thinking, and invite meaningful dialogue.
Later in the day, Willie Watt, Scottish National Investment Bank chairman, had an insightful fireside chat with Simon Keegan, a UK business editor at Insight Media.
Watt said: “As impact investors, we can demonstrate that capitalism can be part of the solution to societal problems. We seek deliverable change within the companies we invest.”
The development of wellpaid jobs is something the Bank regards as “incredibly important” in an investee’s plans, as is innovation that creates wealth to be circulated in local communities.
Speaking about the one thing he wanted delegates to keep in mind, Watt told the conference audience: “I’d like people to be excited about what companies in Scotland are doing… with an enthusiasm and excitement about what can be achieved in Scotland.”