Bjarni Herrera Thorisson is the CEO and co-owner of CIRCULAR Solutions’ sustainability consulting. Bjarni is a lawyer having worked in banking for seven years including five years at the CEO’s office of Arion Bank in Iceland. He then lived in four years in Asia, including South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, completing an MBA from Yonsei University and working for a Fortune 500 company in shipping.
Bjarni, together with his partners, Reynir Smári, PhD Environmental Science, and Hafthór Aegir, PhD Engineering, own CIRCULAR Solutions which offers sustainability services which range from strategies and policies, impact reporting, sustainable finance, and sustainable products and services.
ABSTRACT
We consider sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) as synonyms. The ESG risk exposure profile of telecommunication, insurance, and utilities and district heating companies is different. ESG risks facing those companies are different which will affect the prioritisation of efforts and initiatives. In this discussion, Bjarni will try to shed light on what the most important initiatives are for utilities and district heating companies.
Based on the ESG profile of utilities we will then look into possibilities for such companies to fund its projects with green financing (e.g. green bonds). Previous issuances will be studied and the impact those issuances have had in terms of avoided CO2 emissions.