The “Geopolitics of Sustainability” conference, held in Stockholm on February 4 2025, explored strategies to more effectively address increasingly urgent and complex sustainability challenges alongside rising geopolitical insecurity. The event was part of the Mistra Geopolitics research programme which has run for eight years.
The keynote speaker at the conference was Nick Mabey, who is a founding Director of E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) and its CEO. Nick provided his insights into and future predictions for climate action in a time of geopolitical turmoil.
Key Messages
- Climate action is now a maker of geopolitics, and the clean transition is seen as inevitable;
- Geopolitics is now entering a period of realignment driven by economic fundamentals and domestic politics and how we respond to that will fundamentally shape the context for climate action;
- Climate objectives are still not integrated into geopolitical strategies and if this continues it will derail global climate ambitions;
- China, Europe and “middle powers” must align to maintain and diversify clean growth.New collaborations are needed;
- Global financial system reforms are the new geopolitical battleground but are needed to incentivize the big decisions needed to support climate action in emerging economies;
- Public support in Europe for a proactive climate strategy is fragile and depends on building a fair climate “social contract” at home and reciprocal cooperation internationally.
Watch a recording of the keynote below:
For interviews, please contact:
Jane Birch, Press contact for Mistra Geopolitics at Stockholm Environment Institute,
[email protected] +46 72 214 9616
