“Dreaming about the future is a special human ability. I don’t think so, a dog can,” says Snabe, prompting the journalist to briefly speculate whether a dog can actually do that, although as such it is not so important in relation to Snabe’s point: “Dreams are there, that engage and motivates to do something that seems impossible. And we, as leaders, must talk about dreams when it comes to the green transition. If we give people tasks that are ambitious enough, then there are no limits to what they can come up with. That’s what makes me an optimist. “He cites Mærsk’s green transition as an example of a company that decided to become climate neutral without even knowing how to do it. Two years later, they knew exactly how to do it, he says: “And now Mærsk is ten years ahead of the original plan. So the dream is important, but the details of the plans must also be in place. “I can’t remember hearing that talk about green transition from political leaders, it blows me away in the same way that Kennedy’s moon speech does when you watch it on YouTube. Why don’t we see more of this, do you think? “Yes, I believe that there is a need for both politicians and business leaders who dare to stand up and talk about a big dream. And I believe that it will create enormous companionship. When it doesn’t happen in politics, it’s probably because people are afraid. After all, you stick your head out the window, and then you are told about it three months later. And it is difficult to deliver on an ambitious dream, which must be achieved when the election period is over,” he says. Your management book is called “Dreams and Details”: What do you think is the most important “detail” in relation to the green transition from a more general political perspective? “I can give you an example: If the world’s politicians agreed to set a price on CO2 of 150 dollars per metric tons, then the transition to a sustainable version of reality would be radically faster. Because then it will simply be too expensive to emit CO2, and then the companies will spend all their money to avoid it. “Then why doesn’t it happen? “Yes, that’s a good question. For me, it is the sharpest knife that the politicians have in relation to the green transition. The politicians are not supposed to make the transition, they are supposed to set the conditions and the framework for it. And there has been enough research that if you tax it, you will avoid having more of it, e.g. unhealthy food, cigarettes, CO2 emissions, then these things become more expensive, and then people stop consuming them, because it is not worth it. Snabe continues: “But now suddenly in some areas we have a “green premium”, that is to say, that it is more expensive with the green version. Not all places, some places. And that means that everyone is not moving in the same green direction, which is necessary if we want exponential development towards a sustainable future. “When we now talk about leadership, the ability to dream and the moon landing… we are talking about the children of the rocket generation having their fantasy world activated, they had a belief in the future, a belief in technology, while my generation is perhaps more the 9/11 generation, whose strongest visual symbol is a trading tower in New York collapsing – what do you think of that? “I haven’t thought about that, but I really like the idea. Because a generation after a moon landing has an opportunistic approach to things. Whereas a generation after 9/11 is characterized by fear and risk. And it is an example of a mindset that is created by some external circumstances. Because the mindset we need today, when the time calls for change, is precisely a mindset that is optimistic and believes in it.” Of the overall trends, which reinforce Snabe’s faith in the future, it can be mentioned that the price of producing a kilowatt-hour of electricity from the sun has today become cheaper than the price of producing a kilowatt-hour of electricity from coal. “It gives me faith that a change will happen, because then you have to be stupid if you choose to invest in a coal-fired power plant. “The prices of solar panels are also falling rapidly. In terms of price, development has lagged behind computer development. Every 18 months, the price of solar panels has halved. And done it for a long time, he says. The price of a kilowatt-hour of wind energy has been halved in the past four years – although Snabe acknowledges that wind energy is a bigger challenge, which also requires an upgrade of the energy grid, so that it becomes intelligent and can move the power to where it is needed and dynamically change the price so that supply and demand match. The wind energy must also be able to be stored, which requires efficient batteries: “It requires a lot of investment in a new infrastructure, which is actually the biggest challenge if we are to be able to utilize the new technology. If everyone out on the road, where I live, puts their Tesla into their chargers at the same time, then the entire area’s power supply goes out,” says Snabe and makes the journalist laugh at the thought of a residential road in Klampenborg, where it suddenly goes dark, because a fleet of Teslas sucks power. Climate law in disguise In Snabe’s head, it gives hope that the USA in August 2022 passed the “Inflation Reduction Act”, a law designed to reduce the country’s CO2 consumption by 50 pct. until 2030. This is done concretely by allocating 368 billion dollars in support kroner to companies from home and abroad, which work for a green transition in the USA: “The law is called the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’, but it has nothing to do with inflation . It is just another name for giving subsidies to the green transition. My theory is that they gave it that name, because otherwise they would not have been able to get it adopted,” says Snabe with a small smile. “Of course, the law is a distortion of the market conditions, but it is a good distortion in the sense that it accelerates the green future I am talking about. And as long as the USA does not say that these financial subsidies only apply to American companies, it means that a company like Siemens sees it as an opportunity to invest in the USA and thus accelerate the transition. Europe just has to do something similar. “The “Inflation Reduction Act” is currently the subject of great debate, because people in Europe fear that it will cause European companies to move their activities to the USA. The new face of globalization Jim Hagemann Snabe represents Siemens, a global company, and therefore it is not so surprising that he worries that the world has increasingly “started to build walls”, including trade walls: “We need to accelerate global innovation, i.e. share ideas with each other, so we get faster development. And right now the opposite is happening. Now several countries are shutting down to share knowledge. The West restricts China’s access to some technologies. China restricts other countries’ access to its technologies. That is why it is extremely worrying that, in this particular phase, we are not standing together to solve the global challenges. When I am optimistic anyway, it is because the companies have become such a big global factor,” says Snabe. In Snabe’s world, this means that although the political system finds it difficult to find common ground on the climate, many of the world’s large companies actually represent a “global minimum”, which opposes division: “The political system finds it difficult to cooperate today, perhaps because they are trying to optimize their own country to get votes. That’s where they get the votes from, but Siemens will always act globally. We want access to global talent. We share our innovation within Siemens globally. And we hope that there will not be too many political obstacles to it. I do believe that if we reduce globalisation, our economic development will come to a complete standstill. “Jim and the insects” During the “Leadernes Dag” event, Snabe pointed out the importance of the media’s role in the green transition. About the need for them to create trust in a time where e.g. every fifth Danish news reader chooses the news from: “I fundamentally believe that journalism plays an absolutely decisive role in being able to make the changes that we are going through. Snabe worries about journalism, when it becomes too sensationalized, when it goes after “the man and not the ball”. “When the media try to catch someone in something, so they can declare leaders incompetent, useless and untrustworthy. Because when that happens, we eventually have no leadership left, and what will be the consequence then? Here, I think it is important that the press nuances the picture of the situation. “But it’s not because you want to stop critical journalism, is it? “No, not at all. My biggest concern is that it will be too one-sided in its angle, i.a. because social media have changed the conditions for journalism, so that anyone can suddenly become a journalist without a responsible editor. There are some who take advantage, so lies spread wildly. Jim Hagemann Snabe has experienced it firsthand, when a journalist from a “radical right-wing media” asked him about food systems during the World Economic Forum in Davos. The chairman of the board found the current food systems problematic for three reasons: firstly, too much CO2 is used, secondly, a lot of food is unhealthy and causes health problems, and thirdly, there is a huge amount of food waste: “So I dreamed that we could reinvent the whole system, so it does not emit CO2, we have healthy food and no waste. So where there is no longer anyone, there is famine. I just presented it as a possibility. But the journalist from the right-wing media had mentioned insects in his initial question, which I had not mentioned at all in my answer. It then led to a hetz against me under the heading “The chairman of Siemens wants us to eat insects”. The news spread very quickly. ” Perhaps it spread a bit like a swarm of locusts? “Haha, yes, it was absurd. But I also sat and looked at it and actually became worried about our democracy. Because it is important that we have a journalism that doesn’t just make up stories like this, because they meet the conditions on social media, which are some absurd conditions. Instead, we must distance ourselves from that kind of thing. We must have “the best possible version of the truth”, as the Watergate journalist Bernstein said.” According to Snabe, the media create an image of reality, and therefore it is important that they also do not forget the more positive stories (which, admittedly, is honey in the ears of the broadcasters of the World’s Best News): “I sat the other day and flipped through the headlines. And I simply switched off my phone too, I didn’t bother to read the news anymore. In contrast, last year I was in Edinburgh to give a TED talk, where I spoke about Mærsk, and there I heard twenty other speakers, who gave examples of wonderful things that happen in the world, but which we just don’t hear if, because it doesn’t generate enough clicks. ” So it’s not just hot air when you talk about the importance of hope in journalism? “No, I don’t think so. We must have news that gives hope, but also nuances the picture of where we are and what needs to be done. Because how else do we bring a nation or a world together in a time when we need cooperation to create a better future. Perhaps we have the greatest opportunity ever to create a better future? ” says Snabe. After the interview, the journalist will continue, the office’s herringbone parquet floor will be replaced by asphalt. The business manager says a nice goodbye. I leave the office – and the soap bubbles, which only I could see.
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Siemens’ chairman wants more moon landing energy included in the green transition
