Making the Transition Investable: Policy Certainty, Capital, and Coordination with Marina Grossi, Sang-Hyup Kim & Helena

Clean and green growth has moved from ambition to execution, but the challenge is one of pace. Investment conditions are key: predictable rules, credible pathways, and coordination across value chains, finance and government.

Helena Norrman describes what this looks like inside one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise – steel - including the reality of upfront capital investment, permitting and policy risk, and the mismatch between industrial timelines and market expectations. Marina Grossi argues that confidence is rebuilt through delivery, evidence of real world outcomes, and coalitions and coordination to make progress investable. Sang-Hyup Kim explains why transition policy now sits at the centre of industrial strategy, competitiveness and geopolitics, and how “mini multilateralism” and practical platforms (including carbon markets and hydrogen) can unlock scale even when global cooperation is strained.

Across steel, green growth policy and Brazil’s business-led coalitions, the episode sets out a practical playbook for leaders who want to move beyond isolated initiatives and accelerate delivery at scale.

Guests
Helena Norrman: Executive Vice President and Head of Group Communications, Global Steel Company, SSAB (Svenskt Stål AB) [Swedish Steel, Limited]

Sang-Hyup Kim: Executive Director, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)

Marina Grossi: President, Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS) [Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development]

Key takeaways
1. Make the transition investable: prioritise predictability and credible pathways that survive political cycles.
2. Treat transition policy as industrial strategy, because energy, infrastructure, finance and skills move together.
3. Build coalitions that align incentives across value chains and jurisdictions, because isolated action does not scale.
4. Rebuild confidence through delivery: scale proven projects and remove bottlenecks (permitting, infrastructure, standards).
5. Lead for execution: focus, be pragmatic and prioritise, act under uncertainty, and manage short-term results alongside long-term commitments.

Selected Quotes
“Leadership now needs super pragmatic business focus, operational excellence driven leadership -because that can actually generate strong enough results to allow for the transformation to happen - and then you need to stay the course and that take guts.” Helena Norrman

“Markets don’t shift because one leader moves first. They shift when coalitions align incentives across value chains, sectors and jurisdictions.” Marina Grossi

“If global multilateral corporation is not easy to achieve, then we can start with mini multilateralism by working with like-minded countries together” Sang-Hyup Kim

Credits
Presented by:
Lindsay Hooper, Chief Executive, CISL
Marc Kahn, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Investec
Produced by: Carl Homer (Cambridge TV) & Alexa Sellwood
Executive Producer: Gillian Secrett
In partnership with: Investec

Listen and Subscribe:
Available on all major podcast platforms or visit the Leadership Hub on the CISL website or Investec Focus for more episodes and insights.

Disclaimer:
The views in this podcast are those of the contributors, and don’t necessarily represent those of CISL, the University of Cambridge, or Investec, and should not be taken as advice or a recommendation.