A UN award, daily stand-ups and a desire to make a difference – that is how Klimahub came into being
Manager, Tietoevry Create Cloud Norway
More and more companies are initiating measures to make a difference. One of them is Fjordkraft, a Norwegian power company, where the climate has been a priority for many years.
In 2018, the company’s efforts resulted in a UN award which, in turn, prompted the following question: How can we achieve an even greater domino effect to contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals?
"Since we don't produce anything, we don't generate that much emissions. It therefore became important for us to identify what we could do to make a difference," says Mette Havre, Head of Sustainability at Elmera Group, Fjordkraft's parent company.
The issue had multiple solutions, including setting requirements on the supply chain.
"We require all our suppliers to prepare climate reports and a list of measures for how they intend to reduce their emissions in the future. They are required to deliver this to us every year. They must also buy allowances for their CO2 emissions," says Havre.
This is how the idea of Klimahub came about – a website in which companies, both Fjordkraft's partners and others, can easily register their climate reports. Using a search engine, it will be possible for both companies and private individuals to make sustainable choices in their search for suppliers – in just a few clicks.
Tietoevry Create, whose stated goal is to work with sustainable solutions, was chosen as Fjordkraft's development partner. Together they embarked on a major project: to make climate reporting accessible to everyone. Climate reporting is based on multiple factors, such as a company's production, vehicle fleet and building stock, electricity consumption and heating, travel, shipping and waste management, which collectively provide an overview of emissions and climate footprint.
"Climate reporting was in its infancy when we first started. Previously, you had to hire a company to do the work. We recognised that there was a need to open it up to all and make it simple, understandable and free of charge," says Stig Aukan, Head of Corporate Marketing at Fjordkraft.
As there was minimal time between launches, highly skilled people were assigned to the project. The team from Tietoevry Create is made up of developers and designers with extensive expertise who held daily meetings with Fjordkraft during the first six months. The project was led by project manager Siv Martem, who calls the collaboration "a model of good collaboration";
"The product came into being through a rapid process of trial and error. During the development phases we held daily meetings with Fjordkraft, who presented their thoughts and input for ideas and outlines. This allowed us to calibrate during the project, instead of just being given a brief and delivering a final product. If something didn't work, we could quickly and easily dismiss it and find something that worked better".
Her team included Sindre Bøyum as a front-end developer, who describes it as a rewarding and exciting process;
"Fjordkraft had some ideas about functionality, but not how it would be implemented. The close communication, and the opportunity to be involved in developing the product as it evolved gave us a very special sense of ownership".
On the other side of the table was, among others, Mette Havre, Sustainability Manager at Elmera Group;
"Tietoevry has been hugely committed and has included developers and project managers who have really put their hearts into it. They have provided excellent input and ideas that have made Klimahub what it is today," she says.
Klimahub was launched in October 2019 and is under constant development. New features are to be added, although the main feature thus far is its search engine, which allows you to easily check whether a company has registered climate reports and, if so, the size of their climate footprint.
"We want the website to be used by companies, but also private individuals, so that if you are planning to renovate a basement, you can go in and check whether contractors have registered themselves, then choose a contractor based on their climate reporting," says Havre.
She also says that there is currently no requirement in Norway for companies to keep climate reports, but that changes by the EU suggest that they will form part of the new Sustainability Directive from 2024.
"The landscape looked completely different when we started three and a half years ago. Climate reporting is now high on the agenda," she says.
It has also made increasingly more people see the value of the website, which is now approaching 450 registered businesses.
"The fact that so many companies have already registered with us is brilliant. More and more people see its benefits, and we are happy to be a gateway to this universe. We have an exciting journey ahead of us," Havre concludes.
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