“The unbridled pursuit of profit at the expense of the climate and well-being is not sustainable”

Essentially honorary, her functions have little to do with those of her French counterpart. But she intends to make her voice heard: “I don’t want to be a president who has all the answers, but who asks the right questions and brings people together.”Halla Tomasdottir confides to Mondepassing through Paris on Wednesday, August 28, to attend the Paralympic Games, which are being held until September 8. On June 2, this 55-year-old businesswoman, who is not affiliated with any party, was elected head of Iceland with 34.1% of the vote, thanks to a campaign focusing in particular on the mental health of young people and the place of artificial intelligence.

Her unusual career path stands out within the local political class: trained in the United States, she made a career in the private sector, notably at Mars and PepsiCo, before returning to Reykjavik to teach in the early 2000s. In 2007, when the country was on the verge of a brutal financial crisis, she co-founded Audur Capital, an investment company promoting female values ​​in finance – values ​​that she now intends to instill in the political sphere. “At the time, the financial sector was ten times larger than the gross domestic product [PIB] : this represented an enormous riskshe recalls. The search for short-term profit to the detriment of everything else dominated. We created Audur Capital with a more inclusive, transparent and long-term strategy, better measuring risk.”

Since then, Halla Tomasdottir has been promoting a ” update ” of capitalism. “One of my great regrets is that we have not learned enough lessons from the great crisis of 2008she explains. We live in a system largely inspired by the work of Milton Friedman. [1912-2006, l’économiste inspirateur du néolibéralisme]which has not produced any common value for a long time: inequalities are increasing all over the world. The unbridled pursuit of profit to the detriment of the climate and well-being is not sustainable.

“Flexibility and resilience”

In particular, it advocates the establishment of high environmental and transparency standards for businesses, clear regulations established by States, as well as a new approach to governance. “In an era of widespread distrust of institutions, it is no longer possible for governments and businesses to act in silos without inviting civil society to the table.” Greater diversity of profiles at their head, particularly women, is also essential, she insists. “They bring a different perspective, because their life experience is different.” Just like young people, who are more concerned about the climate and well-being than previous generations.

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