The 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award Ceremony took place at Oslo City Hall on May 16th. This year we welcomed Durreen Shahnaz, Harley Seyedin, Murad Al-Katib and Elon Musk to the Business for Peace Honourees family.
Raymond Johansen, Governing Mayor of Oslo, opened the Award Ceremony followed by welcome speech by Per L. Saxegaard, Founder and Board Chair of Business for Peace Foundation. A keynote speech “2017 State of the Union between Business and Society” was given by Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland who is a former Prime Minister of Norway and Chair of the Brundtland Commission (´Our Common Future´). As a part of the Award Ceremony the dialogue with Aurore Belfrage (Entrepreneur, startup advisor and part of EQT Ventures) and Vaibhav Lodha (Co-Founder of ftcash) was facilitated by the moderator, Henrik Syse (Philosopher and researcher at PRIO).
The arrangement was accompanied by the music performances curated by Artistic Director, Maren Selvaag. Artists that performed at the Award Ceremony included Aliya Cycon (oud, vocals), Maren Selvaag (piano), Hans Kjorstad (Violin), Rasmus Kjorstad (Harding Fiddle), Jonas Barsten (drums, electronics), Kristian B. Jacobsen (bass), Bygdøy School Choir Stella Vitae.
We would like to thank everyone who made this event happen and share a full footage of the Award Ceremony with you here.
40 executives from the Norwegian business sector, recently in China, have given promise to work to meet the UN’s sustainability goals in recent days.
Last year, the Oslo-based foundation, Business for Peace went on to ensure that business leaders across the world promised to lead their companies so that sustainability goals could be met.
During the roundtable conference at Business for Peace on May 16th, Prime Minister Erna Solberg emphasized that business is the “muscle” in the cooperation to achieve the UN’s sustainability goals.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg leads the UN’s Advocates group to promote sustainability goals. The targets will be redeemed by 2030.
Famous names
The Virgin boss Richard Branson and the top manager of Unilever Paul Polman declared their promise in 2016 and in the past year several hundred new leaders, both international and Norwegian, have followed up. Among them are Statoil Eldar Sætre, Egil Hogna in Sapa and Svein Tore Holsether in Yara.
The business leaders who have signed up to now represent companies that have a total turnover of over NOK 5700 billion, with more than 2 201 000 employees.
China Support
Following Erna Solberg’s visit to China, along with a large business delegation, last week, alongside with Head of Innovation Norway, Anita Krohn-Traaseth, took an initiative to gather support for the sustainability promise from the around 300 leaders who participated on the trip. So far, 40 leaders have given the promise.
Gro speak
In her speech at the opening of the Business for Peace Round Table Conference, Erna Solberg highlighted the Brundtland Commission’s report “Our Common Future”, which celebrates 30 years in 2017. The theme of this year’s conference is the Brundtland report. Gro Harlem Brundtland helds the speech “State of the Union between Business and Society” at Oslo Business for Peace Award Ceremony in Oslo City Hall. This year’s prize winners are Elon Musk, Durreen Shahnaz, Harley Seyedin and Murad Al-Katib. The award winners are selected by an independent committee of Nobel winners in both peace and economics.
Additional Comments and Contact Information
Acting Communications Director, Business for Peace, Elisabeth Skarsbø Moen, +47 9133 5103
Thursday April 27th, Business for Peace Foundation hosted a panel debate together with the Nobel Peace Center as a run-up to the 2017 Business for Peace Summit.
As a part of the 2017 Summit, the Business for Peace Foundation offers a truly exciting guest lecture by Adam Grant, professor at Wharton Business School. The lecture will be held at the University Aula at 14:00 on May 15th, and is open to the public.
Drawing on his #1 New York Times bestselling book Originals, Adam Grant will discuss how we can all get better at recognizing and championing new ideas, how to overcome fear and doubt and how to build cultures that welcome diverse perspectives and honest feedback. Grant’s insights on unleashing originality have been praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Malcolm Gladwell, and Sheryl Sandberg, and this talk brings them to life in ways that are both surprising and entertaining.
Click here to register for a free ticket.