Over the past 30 years, we have helped business push the boundaries of leadership on sustainability. We have co-created tools and frameworks and mapped solutions to the various social and environmental challenges. Always with the aim to make companies future-proof and create long-term value.
As we enter the fourth decade of WBCSD, we have to recognize that the headwinds against sustainability are growing in strength. The science is urgent and clear but ESG has been politicized. Geopolitical instability and mounting trade wars may reshape global supply chains. AI has great solution potential but is walking a sustainability tightrope. And our language no longer cuts through in the age of disinformation.
All this makes the Liaison Delegate meeting in Montreux this year the most important one ever held. It marks the start of our 30th anniversary year, in which we celebrate the impact our members have made. More importantly, it should provide all attendees with the confidence that we are doing the right things.
That the power is in the numbers when we reframe, refocus, reload and continue to pursue better business for a better world.
I have three key messages for this meeting:
- We need to listen: Our members experience the growing headwinds each in their own way. The winds are not the same everywhere in the world, the economic ripples do however go right across the globe. We need to give our members the opportunity to share their experiences with each other so we can distill the best way we can help.
- We need to be pragmatic: The time of commitments and acronyms is over; in the next five years, it’s all about action and implementation. What we need is to reframe our narrative in the language of business, a speech that people can connect to. How we can make products better, cleaner, and cheaper together. How our work will make supply chains more resilient. And how it will drive long-term value for shareholders and pensioners in the world.
- We need to focus: Impact and business cases will decide where the energy flows. For business this means on the one hand focusing on opportunities through innovation and the other hand understanding and managing the risks. Our priority areas decarbonization of value-chains focus on the opportunities for innovation while leading corporate performance and accountability, which will allow us to assess and manage the risk side. Our education offer will allow the unique knowledge base in WBCSD to be unlocked.
In 30 years our members have made us the leading community of global businesses. That gift will allow us to deliver on the promise of making sustainability performance the key driver for competitiveness. The party isn’t over, it has only just begun.
Let’s make this the best Montreux ever. Our members need us more than ever.
