Sven Mollekleiv is Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Norway-based risk management firm DNV which acquired corporate sustainability agency, Two Tomorrows, in May 2012 .  Mr Mollekleiv  also acts as DNV’s ombudsman worldwide. He joined DNV in 2001 as Director of Human Resources and is a member of the Executive Board.

His other roles include being DNV’s representative on  the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the UN Global Compact. He holds positions in several non-governmental organisations and committees. In 2008, for example, he became president of the Norwegian Red Cross, following a decade as the charity’s Secretary General,. In addition, he is currently Vice Chairman of the International Red Cross Committee’s Special Fund for Disabled, and was appointed by the government as Chairman of Energy and Environment in “Hovedstadsprosjektet” – a project designed to strengthen Norway’s innovation abilities.

Ethical Corporation: DNV isn’t your standard kind of company, is it? Could you explain where it’s coming from?

Sven Mollekleiv: DNV is an independent foundation. Its purpose is to safeguard lives, property and the environment. We have a global vision based around creating a safe and sustainable future. So we try to help our [business] customers all around the world to live their values, to walk the talk, to do what they have signed up for when it comes to standards.

Ethical Corporation: You wear a lot of hats at DNV. What are your core functions?

Sven Mollekleiv: Well, it’s important for us to walk the talk too. So my main task is working with all the management team and with all our employees to establish how we can live our values in daily business. It’s about how we all do our business every day. This goes beyond compliance – it’s a response to future expectations. In addition to this, I also work with authorities and with civil society to see how we can cooperate better so that we can make the right initiatives towards sustainability. [It’s important] to identify not just the risks, but also the business rewards.

Ethical Corporation: At our recent Responsible Business Summit, one of the issues that you addressed along with senior executives from O2, BYN Mellon and BUPA, was how businesses can rebuild trust. What were the main learning points to emerge from that debate?

Sven Mollekleiv: I think we agreed on at least three very important areas. First, we need to have all focus on the whole value chain and not only on short-term profits. We must look at how business takes care of society and how it creates a sustainable, profitable business in the long-term. This long-term perspective is something we all agreed upon.

The second thing we concluded was the need to develop a culture and practice of transparency. We must tell the truth about [business] reality and dare to talk about the dilemmas that we face. Dealing with dilemmas is important not only for those in management and on the board, but for employees across an organisation. The third point was how we react in critical situations, such as serious safety, health or environmental incidents. I think it’s more important to talk about what we can learn from failures and how we should cope with crises when they occur. That’s how we build trust.

Ethical Corporation: From where you’re sitting, what do you feel will be the macro corporate responsibility issues to address over the next few years?

Sven Mollekleiv: I think we have to realise that business-as-usual is not an option. If we continue like we do in the world today, we will need two or three planets and yet we have only one. So we have to develop business in a more sustainable way. That means working towards the millennium objectives, such as ensuring that we fight poverty, that people have access to clean water and education, and that we use energy in a more environmentally friendly way. We will not create a sustainable future if business is not part of the solution. But business must work in partnership with authorities, with civil society [and] with the research community to find good solutions.

Ethical Corporation: You touched on the Millennium Development Goals. Obviously these come to an end in 2015. What do you think will happen then?

Sven Mollekleiv: That's a very important question. I had the privilege of being involved in the Rio Conference (in June 2012). The message from the business side was clear: we still have to fight poverty because business will not succeed in a society that fails. One billion people today do not have access to electricity so it's difficult for them to read and have the necessary education that developing a good society requires. So ‘energy for all’ represents an important next step for me. Meanwhile, those of us that already have that access [to energy] must get smarter about using it.

Ethical Corporation: You've worked across the business-NGO divide a lot. Do you believe that cross-sector collaboration is fundamental to corporate responsibility?

Sven Mollekleiv: Definitely. We also have to realise that we cannot solve the challenges on our own. We have to work together and we have to create new partnerships. I see these as an opportunity. We must turn today’s challenges from being risks into becoming rewards. That requires businesses to organise themselves in a smarter way, to use the technology that’s available, to share knowledge, to invest more in research into smarter futures solutions. In these ways, we can begin to take care of the environment and society. This is essential for future business, but it’s definitely vital for society too. For that reason, we all have to take part together.

Ethical Corporation: Scandinavian countries such as Norway have always had a strong political commitment to sustainable development. What would you like to see happen at a European Union level around this agenda?

Sven Mollekleiv: The EU has a huge responsibility to respond to future expectations. To do that, it must develop new standards and regulations that really give the right incentives to sustainable behaviours. That is really what politics is all about – trying to move people to act in a way that benefits the collective most of all. The right incentives can do that. At a corporate level, for example, they can encourage investment that really pushes the agenda in the right direction. The EU also has a critical role to play in seeing how Europe can work with the rest of the world, which is very important for the future.

Ethical Corporation: Where do you stand on climate change policy: mitigation or adaptation?

Sven Mollekleiv: We really have to look into both of them. Of course, we have to work with the mitigation because we must reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere. But climate change is already upon us. I see that from my Red Cross position every day. I see how we have more floods, as well as draughts. These are really affecting people across the world. We see it right now in Norway, with floods all over the southern part of the country. We have to be prepared to cope with this and that's what adaptation is all about – it’s about good disaster preparation and about how to organise in an emergency situation.

Ethical Corporation: Which government do you think is taking a lead on sustainability?

Sven Mollekleiv: The Norwegian government is taking lots of good initiatives on forests - not just in Norway but also in Indonesia and Brazil. This is vital for the whole world. But I see that we can do even more. As a nation, we [Norway] must invest more in renewables in the future too.

In terms of other governments, I think Brazil is taking some interesting initiatives on corporate responsibility because they see how vital it is. China is also responding, notably because it’s become so polluted that it is affecting the health of the people. The Chinese government is taking initiatives to develop renewables faster than we have seen before.

Ethical Corporation: When it comes to corporate responsibility, who has had more impact: US President Barack Obama or Chinese Premier Li Keqiang?

Sven Mollekleiv: We heard some very nice words from Obama before he was elected the first time on climate change. A lot of things have changed since then, particularly the boom in shale gas and other non-conventional fossil fuels.  But the US is still the biggest consumer in the world, so we look to them to take new initiatives on behalf of the whole world. We see also in China with Li Keqiang Ping that the country has to take new major initiatives to protect the environment. In both cases, I think they [US and China] have to see the window of opportunity to work together and find good solutions. Neither can solve the whole problem on its own.

Ethical Corporation: Do you prefer the term ‘shared value’ or ‘sustainability’?

Sven Mollekleiv: Well, ‘sustainability’ is what we all have to create because that comprises taking care of the environment, people and business. It’s about understanding that this is about the whole value chain; it’s about understanding that we have to share information; it about having a shared responsibility. So I don’t see this as an “either/or”. We have to do both. 

Ethical Corporation: Should corporation tax be higher or lower in your opinion? 

Sven Mollekleiv: Governments have to facilitate the right incentives. For example, we know that to reduce CO2, we have to put a tax on it. But we also know that by developing the right incentives, people can look for good opportunities and good solutions. That said, I think we have to put some limits on behaviour and the best way to do that in some areas is through taxation.