Hakan Nordkvist

Former Head of Sustainability Innovation for the IKEA Group & CEO of the Net Zero Company

  • Member of the Board of Advisors of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
  • Strategic Advisor to the Board of XFrame
  • Founder & Chairman of Launch Nordic
  • Leader of the IKEA Clean Energy Service Project
  • MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lulea Tekniska
  • Former Board Member of BoKlok

When Hakan Nordkvist is booked for events, they are known to discuss the following speaking topics:

Sustainability
Innovation
Intrepreneurship
Circularity
Leadership

Hakan Nordkvist excels as a leader with a human-centric vision, renowned as the former Head of Sustainability Innovation for IKEA and the current CEO of the Net Zero Company. He is well known for his highly innovative solutions and has played a central role in creating many of IKEA’s sustainability services. With many bold futuristic and ambitious goals, Hakan implements those goals through creative initiatives, road maps and revolutionary business ideas, to create a better future. Hakan is an articulate speaker who eloquently discusses leadership, circularity, sustainability, innovation, and intrapreneurship.

Since joining IKEA as a Quality Manager in 2001, Hakan has led many ground-breaking sustainability projects utilising innovation, cutting-edge technology, and exceptional leadership skills. With an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lulea Tekniska, Hakan is a highly educated individual who has repeatedly demonstrated his genius in the numerous projects he has implemented for IKEA. One of the standout projects was the IKEA clean energy service, a highly successful project which now operates in 13 countries around the globe and is one of the largest clean energy services available. This project was created with innovation combined with sustainability and the efforts of the highly successful sustainability and innovation team, which Hakan led for 11 years.

Another notable project directed by Hakan was the food innovation project which involved the introduction of plant-based proteins and new dishes to the IKEA restaurant. In the project, Hakan also utilised urban/vertical farming to locally produce lettuce and herbs and created efficient food waste initiatives. Furthermore, Hakan was responsible for IKEA’s circular business agenda where he developed innovative business models including IKEA Second Hand, IKEA Take Back and Repair and  Furniture as A Service. In addition, Hakan established a local production set-up encompassing 3D- printing, generative design, and collaborative robotics.

Other companies Hakan has been involved in include Launch Nordic, a creative collaboration platform that is chaired by Hakan and was created with Nike, USAID, NASA and Novozymes. Hakan is also a former board member of BoKlok, an innovative housing company which focuses on building sustainable and affordable housing, and is now a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a Strategic Advisor to the Board of XFrame. Hakan Nordkvist is an outstanding speaker and a highly respected authority on sustainability and innovation with over 20 years of experience working on a range of exceptional projects.

In November 2022 we sat down virtually with Hakan Nordkvist and discussed his message to businesses that aren’t making sustainable changes. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Hakan Nordkvist.

Official Testimonials

Hakan Nordkvist is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:

On the fourth day your session entitled ‘delivering sustainable lifestyles for a world of 9 billion people’ was also well received, scoring 84%.  For the delegates, these case study sessions were extremely impactful in seeing some of the theory in real life practical examples for leaders. Please see below for some comments shared by the delegation: Really like the sharing from corporates’ point of view on how they implement sustainability in their business It was really useful to hear from people in industry today about what they are doing and how they are approaching things. Really great to talk about solutions and plans especially with focus on doing rather than strategy. Wow – probably the most enjoyable and impactful day of the week.

Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

To enquire about Hakan Nordkvist for your event or corporate function, simply contact us via agent@sustainability-speakers.com or call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553.