On 6 September this year Mistra, in association with Generation Investment Management, hosted a pre-release screening of Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim´s film An Inconvenient Truth.
“I see this not as a political issue, but as a moral one - the most urgent question we have faced in our history," he said. “We humans are undermining our very existence by destroying the place we live in - the planet earth."
At the same time, he was optimistic about the possibility of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases - if everyone plays their part.
“But there isn´t a lot of time. All the indications are that, with a growing population and spiralling energy needs, we could very soon be faced with natural disasters on an increasingly serious scale."
One of the hallmarks of Al Gore´s approach in recent years has been to establish a link, too, between environmental issues and the management of capital - for example, through the firm Generation Investment Management, of which he is chairman.
“Everyone can do something: governments, individuals - and companies," he said.
Many of the guests at the private screening agreed. Industrifonden president Claes de Neergaard, for instance, believed that Gore´s film will be a wake-up call, in the same way as Rachel Carson´s book Silent Spring was in 1962: it will help to get more research done, release greater political energy - hopefully in the United States as well - and also underline the business and investment potential of commercializing new technology.
“More venture capital will gravitate towards companies in the energy and environmental technology sectors and towards other companies that are able to use new technology to become winners on a globalized market," de Neergaard said.
According to Charlotta Sydstrand, an environmental and ethical analyst with Robur Fonder AB, the film made it clear that cutting carbon dioxide emissions does not have to mean giving up on long-term economic growth.
“Robur´s environmental and ethical funds now put a premium on companies that see business opportunities in green technology and that actively seek to reduce their impact on climate. We believe that the climate issue will become increasingly important for firms´ long-term competitiveness."
Others, like Johan Sidenmark, head of Nordea Investment Management in Sweden, emphasized the personal message of the film.
“Making this a moral, personal issue is a very interesting approach. That way, I myself as an individual have to take responsibility for my own actions."
Sidenmark also pointed out that his firm now offers asset management products that allow customers to opt out of investing in companies which, by current market standards, are unethical.
“There is every reason to follow up on these issues from a more detailed management point of view," he said.
Researchers working with the difficult climate policy issues which the film addresses were also impressed.
“While getting across a supremely simple message, Al Gore managed to avoid the sorts of political pitfalls that stifle discussion, focusing on both problems and solutions," said Deborah Cornland, programme manager of CLIPORE, Mistra´s Climate Policy Research Programme.
She also noted that the facts he presented were an accurate reflection of both basic understanding in this field and the latest research reports.
Lars Gavelin at Sweden´s Ministry of Finance, who chairs the Mistra programme Sustainable Investment, saw the question of climate as a challenge to us all - and of course that includes the capital market.
“Al Gore demonstrates convincingly that there is no longer room for doubt. The capital market, which prides itself on being forward-looking, is the last sector to be able to shift the blame elsewhere," he said.
This is particularly true of the major financial institutions, which manage other people´s money and have to be able to answer to their customers.
“What it´s about is assessing the wider consequences of different investment decisions and using the influence you have as an owner or lender," Gavelin continued. “That practice needs to spread from being a minority concern to something that everyone must get involved in."