His merits certify him as a praiseworthy fellow:

Carl-Henric Svanberg is the recipient of the King of Sweden’s medal for his contribution to Swedish industry.

Carl-Henric Svanberg is a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Carl-Henric Svanberg is a member of the external advisory board of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Carl-Henric Svanberg is on the boards of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the University of Uppsala.

Carl-Henric Svanberg was president and chief executive officer of Ericsson, also serving as the chairman of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.

However, as of January 1 of this year, Carl-Henric Svanberg has been the top man at the company whose oil spill is ruining the coastline of the USA's southern gulf states.

Being chairman of the board of BP and having high class accommodations in London seemed fine until the crude oil hit the fan and spread across the Gulf of Mexico toward some of the Caribbean's - and America's - most fertile and pristine natural environments.

Svanberg has hardly had sufficient time to deserve the wrath of Americans, since he has only been at the helm for four months. Nonetheless, little doubt remains that BP - and possibly his own name - will lurk in history with the fellowship of pollution disaster moguls and Exxon and Dow Chemical.

At this point, the multinational oil giant has promised to assume all costs for the cleanup, but the other damages to wildlife, tourism and long term pollution side effects threaten to add up to inestimable sums. No comment has been made by Svanberg, but it is clear that the nightmares for himself, his company and the American people in general will continue for a long time.

Information on BP is dominated by the oil spill and the 'Gulf of Mexico Response' - www.bp.com