Hexagon taps former Ericsson exec to helm new sustainable economy business

Industrial technology group Hexagon HEXAb.ST is launching a subsidiary focused on investing in the sustainable economy, and has picked Ericsson’s ERICb.ST Erik Josefsson as CEO of the new business, it said.

Josefsson, former head of Advanced Industries at the telecoms gear-maker, will lead the subsidiary, called R-evolution, as it runs profit-driven investments in green-tech projects where Hexagon’s technology can be applied.

Hexagon said the first set of investments, focused on renewable energy, will involve the construction of cutting-edge solar farms, targeted at producing energy with 50,000 tonnes less CO2 equivalents per annum than the grid’s residual mix.

“We founded R-evolution because saving the planet is the biggest business opportunity of the 21st century. The systemic problems caused by climate change demand a sense of urgency – 2050 is the year of too late,” Hexagon CEO Ola Rollen said in a statement on Monday.

Hexagon said it planned to eventually spin R-evolution off from the company. Reuters