'5+1' with Fredrika Klarén – Head of Sustainability at Polestar
Meet Fredrika Klarén – Head of Sustainability at Polestar. Fredrika joined Polestar in April 2020 to drive the company’s sustainability ambitions forward on issues such as climate-neutrality, circularity, transparency and inclusion. Recently Polestar announced the Polestar 0 project aiming to create the first truly climate neutral car by 2030.
Now we talked to Fredrika to learn more about her job and Polestar’s contribution to sustainable mobility. Further we found out what made her choose to change from furniture and clothes to the automotive industry and which projects in her career she considers to be highly significant. Besides we get to know how Fredrika integrates sustainability in her private life, what her personal sustainability goals are and how she envisions mobility in 2030.
1. You are Head of Sustainability at Polestar. What does your job involve and what is it that drives you?
Polestar is built on the vision that we can improve society with what we do, and that EV’s can accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. My job is to turn that vision into action and drive the sustainability agenda forward in a way that makes us create real impact.
2. What is Polestar's contribution to sustainable mobility?
We know that EV’s offers a route to climate-neutral mobility, not least by looking at our own Life Cycle Assessment of Polestar 2 where we see how it has a smaller footprint than that of a comparable fossil car. So our offer, an EV that is uncompromising on design and performance, really has the potential to make more consumers take the leap to a better, more sustainable car option. But EV’s are not clean or 100% sustainable as they are produced today. At Polestar we want to change that. We focus on climate and circularity but also transparency and inclusion, which we see are key drivers to enable that.
3. From furniture and clothes to a car company – what was the reason for you to change to the automotive industry? What project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career so far?
A big driver for me is to utilise the potential business have to impact how we progress as a society, and to keep growing as a human and learn new things. Mý work with sustainability over the last decade has made me humble to the fact that there is still much to learn, but it has also given me a lot of valuable experiences – and now I get to extend that into something that I’ve been a passionate user of for many years – EV’s! I can highly recommend taking on a new industry – it’s a good opportunity for growth and gives you a lot of new ideas to contribute with. It’s also a testament to Polestar’s drive to think new. I have a lot of colleagues that have joined from other industries with new perspectives, and also many brilliant experienced automotive colleagues of course.
Projects that lead to breakthroughs on the most complex issues are of course very significant to me, what we’re doing now with blockchain to enable material traceability is a good example of that. Or when we do something where you actually can see or measure the reduction in negative impact – like when we got 100% renewable electricity in our Chengdu factory. My mind keeps focusing in on what needs to be done, though. I want to be around when we reach net zero on carbon emissions globally, when extreme poverty is eradicated, when we no longer have gender pay gaps. The big ones.
4. How do you integrate sustainability in your private life? What are your personal sustainability goals?
Exploring how to live as a human in this day and age in connection and balance with nature really gives me the opportunity to grow and learn every single day. I have a personal climate plan, which I can highly recommend. I’ve focused on the big impacts areas in my life: 100% renewable energy for my home and car, investing my savings in sustainable options, choosing train or EV when travelling (I have a goal of max 1 business flight per year which has been really easy to keep this year), a fairly plant based diet complemented by fish and local natural pasture meat. I try not to buy unnecessary stuff, especially if they are electric gadgets. This world has way too many of those, and the non-transparency around their impact is scary! But I am absolutely not perfect – for example I could buy less garments, books and furniture. It’s a work in progress.
5. Let’s talk about the future of mobility. How do you think will mobility look like in 2030?
By 2030 we will have to have halved the emissions from transports, and I hope that businesses and governments have taken action accordingly. The commitments we see today are not enough, at Polestar we will do our best to be guiding stars, show that it can be done and also that it creates value. I believe that mobility solutions in 2030 will embrace circular and inclusive principles. A sustainable mobility is not only environmentally sound but also provides equal opportunity for people and communities.
And the +1 question from Fredrika to you: ”I want to ask what you would like to know about products so that you can become more sustainable in your consumption. You always get to now the price and other specs that help you make your decision. But what info would you want so that you could also know that you’re making a sustainable choice?
Many thanks Fredrika for the inspiring talk and the valuable insights.
Pictures: Polestar
Interview: Britta Reineke