The Swedish Postcode Lottery to host a climate event

March 2009

On 1st April Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Wangari Maathai will be coming to Stockholm to address an evening event in aid of the climate that is being arranged by PostkodLotterie. The theme for the evening is “Visions of a Low-Carbon World – Moving Forward in the Face of Financial Crisis”.

“PostkodLotteriet works actively to achieve a better environment and to counteract climate change. By providing Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Wangari Maathai with a platform from which to deliver their messages and thereby allowing the audience of invited Swedish decision-makers to see the potential solutions for themselves, we aim to show that climate change can be stopped,” says Niclas Kjellström-Matseke, CEO of Svenska PostkodLotteriet.

In December this year, political decision-makers from all over the world are due to gather in Copenhagen in order to negotiate a new global climate agreement. This represents a considerable challenge and the results of these negotiations will produce results that will have an affect on future generation.

“Coming up with a negotiated climate agreement has become an even greater challenge now that the world is in its deepest financial recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. We wish to drive this process forward by presenting both opportunities and solutions. We are therefore absolutely delighted that Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Wangari Maathai have all agreed to come to Stockholm,” says Niclas Kjellström-Matseke.

Three top politicians with an agenda for stopping climate change
After leaving their respective political offices, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair chose to work actively on promoting an awareness of climate change and to show that carbon dioxide emission as a consequence of human activity can be reduced.
Bill Clinton is active with a number of projects under the aegis of the Clinton Climate Initiative. One such project involves 40 of the world's largest cities working together in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Tony Blair is actively involved in the project entitled “Breaking the Climate Deadlock” in collaboration with the non-profit-making organisation Climate Group - an initiative that was launched in order to break the international deadlock in the climate debate.
Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel peace prize winner, works with a number of projects in Africa aimed at creating a greener world and promoting a more climate-friendly way of living.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from Sweden will be opening the evening at Stockholm's City Hall. On 1st July Sweden will be assuming presidency of the EU and the Swedish government has a new global agreement on the climate high up on its agenda. “Preventing climate change is a major challenge for humanity. 2009 will be a decisive year and considerable commitment is required, not just from politicians, but also from industry and from interest organisations,” says Niclas Kjellström-Matseke. “We will therefore be inviting a lot of people to attend, including from the Nordic region.” Back...

For more information and interviews, please contact:
Anna Engstrand, press secretary for Svenska PostkodLotteriet: +46 (0)70- 316 51 77