H.K.H. Kronprinsessans avslutningsord vid SeaBOS arbetsmöte

Hotel Skeppsholmen, Stockholm

(Det talade ordet gäller)

Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,

It is a great pleasure to see you again, and to welcome our new colleagues to SeaBOS.

I have had the opportunity to follow your work for quite a long time now. I have seen it grow and develop.

Change is happening in the business community. Not only because companies have to – but because there are rapidly growing incentives for companies to act as stewards. Some are reputational, other are financial. Some are driven by an instinct to survive for the long term.

It’s been five years since the SeaBOS launch at the UN Ocean conference in 2017. Back then, you were most definitely leaders, I know because I was there.

Today, the leadership space is increasingly crowded. Staying ahead of the competition requires more than it used to.

Important progress has indeed been made, and I would particularly like to commend the Japanese companies for such an impressive mobilization, and for setting ambitious goals for climate and plastics, and for engaging in new ways with antibiotics. You are most definitely creating an example.

But despite this acceleration, and despite that some of the other companies have worked with these issues for a long time, and have had a head start – you all need to increase your level of ambition. That is what the planet demands from us. It is the only way towards a sustainable future.

Ladies and gentlemen: Your leadership is urgently needed. Not just bold commitments, not just goals to set goals, not just strategies and plans.

I want you to ask yourselves:

Am I brave enough to lead?

Is my company a role model for other seafood companies to follow?
Are we inspiring change in other sectors?

Real leadership is to take the cost, to invest the time, to take the risk – and to be rewarded with new opportunities.

Next month, at the UN conference in Lisbon, the first SeaBOS report will be launched. Leaders from the whole world will be listening. They will be looking for results – real results, to learn from and to be inspired by.

I look forward to being there, and I expect you to make me proud, as always.

Thank you.