|
More top picks for the Swedish-American business community.
|
|
|
|
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | The Nation Brands Index (NBI) is a study that measures the strength of nations’ brands and how well countries handle important global issues. Similar to last year, this year’s study focused on health crises and the Covid-19 pandemic. When 60,000 participants from 20 countries were asked about their view on how different countries had handled the pandemic, Sweden ended up number seven out of a total of 60 countries. This can be compared to last year when Sweden ended up number 15.
|
|
|
REUTERS | Swedish supergroup ABBA recently announced their first new album in four decades. The album "Voyage" is scheduled for release on November 5th and will feature 10 new songs, the band said during the streamed launch announcement. ABBA will also stage a series of virtual concerts in a purpose-built ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in May. The concerts will feature digital avatars - or ABBATARS - of the four group members, on stage.
|
|
|
|
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | According to the Swedish Central Bureau of Statistics (SCB), the carrier- and courier industry is topping the list of industry performers this year, with an 82 percent increase in revenue during the first half of 2021. "It shows that we have altered our behaviors by purchasing more online and are having our deliveries sent to new locations", says Daniel Lennartsson, statistician at SCB. The result could also stem from the fact that the courier industry delivers food from restaurants. The hotel and restaurant industry has had a good summer, with higher results compared to the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, the travel industry has taken the worst blow. ”It’s been especially tough for the tour operators. They lost 79 percent of their revenues", Daniel Lennartsson says.
|
|
|
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | The global semiconductor shortage is deemed a major challenge for development across industries worldwide. Swedish Skåne-based company Alix Labs is now developing a new method that will allow for both faster and cheaper production of semiconductors. Jonas Sundquist, CEO of Alix Labs says their technology will simplify the production’s process sequency, and that they will be leasing their technology directly to semiconductor producers such as Intel and Samsung. The company aims to be ready for large-scale production in 2024-2025.
|
|
|
|
REUTERS | Global Climate Strike Coordinated Across 99 Countries
Hundreds of thousands of people in 99 countries took part in a coordinated global climate strike demanding urgent action to tackle the ecological crisis last week. The strike took place just weeks before the COP26 summit in Glasgow, UK and was the first worldwide climate action since the coronavirus pandemic hit. ”It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough" Great Thunberg told a crowd of thousands of protesters in Berlin. Organizers of the global event said there were protests in more than 1,800 towns and cities around the world.
THE GUARDIAN | Climate Funding Target for Poorer Countries ‘Likely to be met’ by 2022
Developing countries could receive long-promised funds to help them tackle the climate crisis as soon as next year in a major boost for the prospects of success at the Cop26 climate summit, climate economist Nicholas Stern says. Rich countries pledged in 2009 to provide at least $100bn (£73bn) a year to the developing world by 2020, a target that has been missed. But recent promises of additional cash from the US, the EU and others have lifted the prospects.
NYTIMES | Biden Administration Makes Major Move to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a regulation to sharply reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are widely used in air-conditioning and refrigeration. The regulation would reduce HFCs by 85 percent over the next 15 years. According to the White House, that will be the equivalent of eliminating 4.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050, or about three years’ worth of climate pollution from the electricity sector.
|
|
|
|
|
Want to get involved?
Let us know if you want to get involved in any of our initiatives or have some news or happenings your SACCNY community should know about!
|
|
|
|
|
