COP Spotlight: F1 star turned clean tech champion Nico Rosberg
Former world racing champion speaks to BusinessGreen at sidelines of COP26 about sport, clean tech and the urgent need for governments to act on climate
Nico Rosberg enjoyed a glittering career in Formula One, repeatedly securing podium finishes as a leading driver in the championships.
But after reaching the summit of the sport when he became F1 world champion in 2016, the Finn decided to hang-up his racing gear for good and took an unusual swerve into the world of green business. He is now one of the world’s leading advocate for climate action and sustainability across the sports industry and beyond.
Rosberg took a particular interest in electric and autonomous vehicles, taking regular trips to Silicon Valley, and going on to invest in a number of green start-ups and innovations. In 2020, he also established his own e-racing team – Roxberg X Racing – in order to compete in the new all-electric off-road rally racing series Extreme E.
And in 2018 he helped set up the Greentech Festival alongside engineers and entrepreneurs Marco Voigt and Sven Krüger in a bid to “bring the enormous potential of green technologies to life”. The latest edition of the Greentech Festival took place in London last week, featuring a host of top names including former Unilever CEO Paul Polman.
At the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow this week, BusinessGreen caught up with the former world F1 champion shortly after his appearance at an event to mark the UN Sports for Climate Action initiative, which called on sports bodies, organisations and clubs to target net zero emissions by 2040.
BusinessGreen: What does COP26 mean to you?
Nico Rosberg: I’m energised to be here, because it’s incredible how much intention there is on this topic. All the world’s leading decision-makers are here. That in itself gives a lot of hope. Because 15 years’ ago, a COP would not have been like that. They would not have had all the world leaders gathered here, with all the business leaders – all the most powerful people on the planet – so that’s a big change.
What is your biggest hope or top demand from the Summit?
Oh, the $100bn [the annual climate finance collectively promised by richer nations to developing nations] – that we make some firm progress there. But I’ve heard now that behind the scenes that it’s now going to be a couple of years off, so that’s sad to hear.
But nevertheless, the promise to end deforestation by 2030 deforestation, with the Brazilians on board – that is a step in the right direction, isn’t it? I hope they’re sincere with that.
What do you think has been most overlooked at COP26 so far?
I guess what has been overlooked is the size of the challenge. I don’t think anybody has really appreciated that so far. How big this challenge is, and how late we are – I don’t think people understand that.
What is the most important thing people should be looking out for during this Summit?
We need to make sure that people are sincere with what they’re doing, and heavily pressure people if they’re not. Which is what the younger generation is doing – although sometimes they go a bit far as well.
What keeps you awake at night while you’re in Glasgow?
I think there is a missed opportunity in sports, which is why I’m here for the UN Sports for Climate Action initiative. So little is being done in the grand scheme of things, so I think that’s a pity, as we could be doing so much more.
With my Extreme E racing team, we have our own campaigns that are driven by purpose. We really want to show how a sports team can use this platform, and to demonstrate that it is just as important to win as it is to have impact. In every location where we are, we really engage heavily in charitable activities and initiatives. Just like in Sardinia recently, where they had experienced the biggest fires they had there – so we visited the families, and were on the spot really supporting and generating awareness, which is really important.
What do you think the role is for business, and for sport, at COP26 and beyond?
Well, the most awesome thing in the business world is that you can also generate your greatest returns on the path of sustainability in the next 10 years – and people understand that. It’s so powerful to really have people engaged in this transition, so that’s really encouraging. Even if they don’t have it as their purpose or really care – if they’re thinking about how they can make the most money, it’s on the path to sustainability. That’s awesome. That’s coming out and becoming fully understood.
With sport, it has millions of followers. No business has millions of followers in the way that sport does. No government has the attention of millions of followers in the way that sport has. So it’s a massive role that sport has to play there, and it’s doing it, of course, in bits and pieces.
We saw a documentary come out this year on Sky, where they showed the history of St. Andrews golf and they brought in the element of threat from climate change because they’re having to move their golf courses at the moment due to coastal erosion. It’s really nice to see hot these stories are started to get integrated into the sports context.
Is the sporting world doing enough on climate change?
No. Nobody’s doing enough, and nobody can do enough. We’re far away, but there’s progress. Let’s see how fast we can make progress.
If you had $100bn to spend on climate action, what would you invest it in?
Unfortunately it would have to be where the greatest suffering is happening, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa, where most people don’t actually even have electricity, at least not on a regular basis. And so you’d probably spend a lot of it there to provide renewable electricity, and thereby also provide food and livelihoods. That would be the way to go.
What have you learned from the world of sport that has particularly prepared you for the world of green business?
The other night we had a dinner and it was just ‘blah blah blah blah blah’. Well, not entirely. But at the end of the dinner us sports people asked if we could also make some pledges, and so many of us came up with a small pledge, which was a positive contribution. So then actually really something positive came of our get-together.
Whatever the outcome, how can people move forward after COP26 is over?
There’s nothing new I can contribute to that. We know what the situation is – everything is going too slowly. You can plea – as the young generation is doing – to the leaders of the world to accelerate and make faster compromises.
