Rethink and restart for a new tomorrow: PwC’s Chairman Bob Moritz & Peter Bakker share insights

PwC Chairman Bob Moritz and WBCSD President and CEO Peter Bakker discussed in detail the role of businesses, the need for change in our economies and the role of good leadership in moving toward a better normal – not just a new normal. At the occasion of the closing interview of the Digital Global Solutions Summit’s Round-up, they highlighted lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can better link wealth, health and societal goods.

This interview is part of the 2020 Digital Global Solutions Summit

“The COVID-19 crisis has proven that the resilience of society, of our health system, of supply chains, was ill-prepared. The resilience of society as a whole – but certainly from a business point of view – will completely be revisited, it will include environmental and societal risks. It’s really systemic change that we need”, Peter Bakker stated.

Bob Moritz shared some advice to business: “Step back and repair what’s happened. Rethink what you need to do. Reconfigure your businesses, and as Peter said, think about it with broader societal expectations in mind. Rethink and restart for a new tomorrow.”

Both agreed that leadership and the choices that leaders in business and governments need to make, will be crucial in the recovery. “In the world of sustainability post-COVID, everybody is talking about “Build Back Better”. But what “better” is, and how you build back toward that, is going to be determined by leaders”, Peter Bakker concluded.

The Digital (due to COVID-19) Global Solutions Summit is the annual event of the Global Solutions Initiative, a collaborative enterprise comprised of a network of think tanks that proposes policy responses to major global problems, addressed by the G20, the G7 and other global governance fora.