It’s time to prepare for the near future.
As the world slowly and unevenly emerges from the two years of pandemic lockdowns, we are entering a new normal that is increasingly defined by a few critical and unprecedented factors. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) values and climate action will be pre-eminent among them, but against a backdrop of rapid technology innovation, potentially large-scale regulatory shift as part of climate action and changing attitudes towards the metrics we value in society.
Traditional values embedded in what has largely been a capitalist and globalised world will change – and quickly. The foundation of the exclusively profit-driven focus at all costs will gradually diminish in importance as society grapples with declining natural resources, increased pollution, a volatile climate and more infectious diseases. This watershed, transformational moment for mankind demands an urgent change as well as new tools at our disposal to deliver cross-disciplinary solutions.
“Geography, natural resources and ‘climate randomness’ will define the prospects of individual nations”
In the meantime, the world is also emerging from a dramatic fall in global economic production during the post-pandemic era, having never fully recovered from the financial crisis of 2008. Complex supply chain issues have led to high inflation that seems both stubborn and pervasive, along with high levels of corporate and government debt, indicating that the low interest rate environment that the world has enjoyed for the past decade will change. In addition, geopolitical relationships are entering a new phase, with less cooperation and more competition, as well as less multilateralism and more self-interest. In this unequal international system, geography, natural resources and ‘climate randomness’ will define the prospects of individual nations. As we saw during the recent vaccine rollouts, those countries and businesses that can lead in research and afford them will fare better.
In this new world, we need to enact urgent climate action and embrace ESG values. To date, climate action has been an issue of choice. In the near future, it will be required to be compliant – a very different calculus.
