ESCP ALUMNI magazine - #205 - Mars 2024 - 38

D
Dossier ❙ Interview
Made in Iceland
At 30, Ásdís Nína MAGNUSDOTTIR (MSc 19) has joined Carbfix, an Icelandic company
developing a groundbreaking approach to capturing and storing CO2
. She explains how
growing up in Iceland shaped her interest in environmental action, and why the country is at the
forefront of the battle for climate.
to capturing and storing CO2
in water,
and injecting it in subsurface basalts.
«Most people are aware go how vegetation
can store CO2
. But the fact is, nature's most
common way of storing carbon dioxide is in
geological formations, 80% of the world's
CO2
Ásdís Nína MAGNUSDOTTIR (MSc 19)
project Manager EU Funded First Mover
Projects at Carbfix
is stored in rocks,» she explains. «So we
mimic this natural process, by sequestering
the CO2
, mixing it with water and injecting it
,7 million visitors travelled to Iceland
in 2022. With a majority of tourists
coming to the remote country to
witness its natural beauty and unparalleled
scenery. «In Iceland, no matter what the
season is, your senses are constantly stimulated
by nature. It could be just watching the
mountains, smelling the ocean, or the snow
just hitting your face,» says Ásdís Nína
Magnúsdóttir, who moved back to her
home country last April after studying and
working abroad. For her last job, she moved
to Harare, Zimbabwe, to work as a program
analyst for the UNDP in the country, on
their climate change portfolio. «It was a very
different natural environment to Iceland, but I
really enjoyed spending some time there,» she
recalls, laughing. «And I was working in the
same field as I am today, on climate change
and sustainability.»
1
Ásdís Nína didn't move back to Iceland to
enjoy the landscapes, but to help protect
them in the long run. Last April, she joined
Carbfix, an Icelandic company which has
developed a groundbreaking approach
38 ❙
800 meters down below the surface. After two
years, it forms a crystal called calcite.» Ásdís
Nína is currently working as the project
manager of a grant received from the EU
innovation fund as well as working in policy
and advocacy to increase awareness on the
company and its technologies.
Does she believe that growing up in Iceland
helped shape this interest in climate and
environmental action ? «I think we are all
shaped by our immediate environment. (...)
My family is very outdoorsy. My parents used
to take us on long hiking trips, from a very
young age. So I've always had this hedonistic
appreciation of being in the wilderness,» she
explains. After studying philosophy as an
undergraduate, where she was particularly
moved by a course called «Ethics in nature»,
Ásdís Nína decided to join ESCP Business
School, in what was at the time a brand new
master's degree, International Sustainability
Management. «When I chose this Master's
degree, here in Iceland, 80% of the people I
spoke to had no idea of what I was talking
about. It was all: 'Are you sure you'll be able
to find a job in this field ?'. Now, when I came
back, I immediately noticed that there had been
a shift in the conversation around the subject,
and people have much more information and a
better understanding of what it really means.»
ESCP Alumni Magazine numéro 205 ❙ MARS 2024
80% of the
world's CO2
is
stored in rocks,»
she explains. «So
we mimic this
natural process,
by sequestering
the CO2
, mixing
it with water
and injecting
it 800 meters
down below the
surface. After two
years, it forms
a crystal called
calcite.
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ESCP ALUMNI magazine - #205 - Mars 2024

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