Today’s global business environment is more complex, uncertain, volatile and dynamic than ever, with sustainability being one of the most significant challenges facing the global economy. As such, we have outlined several key trends that will impact our clients, our business and our industry over the coming decades:
Planet
As the impact of climate change becomes increasingly apparent and public concern heightens, we will likely see an escalation of citizen protests, increased employee advocacy and disruption of fossil fuel supply chains by climate activists.
Climate mitigation
We should see a rapid acceleration in the advancement and application of low-carbon technologies. Asset managers will increasingly move to divest from carbon-intensive coal companies in their actively managed portfolios to reduce risk exposure.
Biodiversity and freshwater resources
Sustainable water management is essential to safeguard biodiversity and ensure life on the earth. These pathways require innovative ecological and regional solutions, and that consumption habits change to maintain healthy ecosystems. Significant transformations in food systems will appear, and we have a role to play in encouraging these new culinary trends.
Sobriety
The limited resources that we have access to will encourage people to adopt a more sustainable and sober way of living. It will encourage companies to provide services and products that last longer and are produced locally to make buying habits more sustainable.
Circular solutions
Driven by societal and regulatory pressures, consumer goods companies are increasingly piloting and adopting circular strategies. More companies are expected to innovate, collaborate and demonstrate the opportunities presented by a net-zero emissions circular economy.
Plastic
With several national bans and regulations put in place in the last few years and an increased emphasis on producer responsibility, particularly in Europe, companies will come under increased pressure to action robust plans to achieve their plastic commitments, and invest the necessary resources into implementing those plans.
Technological and digital innovation
Rapid advancements in the internet, mobile phones, artificial intelligence, data management, and other technologies hold enormous potential to offer solutions to some of the world’s most complex social and environmental problems.
But, with new technologies come new challenges. There is a deepening inequality within the spread of technology worldwide, and between citizens and corporations. Impactful technology also poses significant challenges, from cybersecurity and privacy to rising inequality and job automation.
Questions about bias in technologies driven by algorithms and artificial intelligence and how to make them accountable will only increase in urgency and importance.
People
Demographic and social changes will see governments and businesses finding tremendous opportunities and facing enormouschallenges as the largest generation in history, the millennials, drive the economy.
Millennials and those that come after them will be more educated and will have different expectations regarding opportunity, mobility, relationships and ownership compared to previous generations.
Human capital
Unaddressed mental health conditions, poor stress management and lack of flexibility in work schedules are impacting the wellbeing of workers and companies’ bottom lines.
A growing number of companies will seek out ways to go beyond basic healthcare services and benefits, trialling new approaches to wellness and work/life balance that help employees thrive in the workplace. Efforts to define and measure human capital will also accelerate.
Retaining talents
Beyond society’s longstanding emphasis on continual personal development and change, people are now invested in the importance of structural change and want that to be reflected in their jobs.
Sustainable companies could, therefore, attract more talents and, most importantly, retain them by shifting their focus to employee wellbeing and a more sustainable, diverse and balanced company culture.
Differentiated lifeworlds
The divergence between people’s lifeworld will increase by 2030. To begin with, gender roles will no longer be accepted as being predetermined and will increasingly be defined by individuals themselves.
New forms of individuality will also be established based on complex identity formation processes and modified body images.
Patterns of consumption, which are motivated by multiple factors, such as the increasing demand for personalised products, a deeper integration of customers in product development processes, increasing sensitisation to sustainable consumption and a transition from ownership to sharing platforms in certain product categories, will also become increasingly differentiated.
Changing work environments
Whether it’s organisational forms, work equipment, operational profiles or competency requirements, a fundamental change is recognisably occurring at all levels in the work environment.
Work is being organised on a more flexible basis in terms of where and when it takes place, and companies are attempting to dissolve traditional silos in favour of more open structures.
Workers will be increasingly expected to accept more personal responsibility and self-organisation. In addition, they will be required to work continuously on developing their personal skill profiles.
At the same time, workforces will become more diversified, which will present new challenges for both managers and staff.
Environmental Justice
All over the world, lawsuits against states and companies for failure to act on climate change are multiplying. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) calculated in 2023 that since 2017 the number of court cases related to climate change has more than doubled. Regular discussions with our various stakeholders and completing frequent risk analysis will be key to maintain security at events.
Profit
Globalisation has produced unequal returns. Rising inequality is challenging trust in traditional global economic institutions and agreements. More frequent trade wars and rising protectionism will continue to drive uncertainty and instability.
A volatile economy
Throughout the world, companies and economies are experiencing increasingly volatile development dynamics.
Global mutual dependencies have increased at the same pace as the flows of international capital and goods have burgeoned in the wake of globalisation. The risk of contagion in times of crisis has also increased, and local events can have global consequences.
In addition, the incidence rate of crises of an international character is also growing, depriving national economies of the ability to achieve full recovery. Increasing global inequalities further complicate this situation.
Increasingly, a reliable monetary, economic and fiscal policy is becoming a thing of the past. Industry structures are changing under the influence of disruptive innovations, and speculative investment activities are also destabilising the global economic system.
Increased productivity
Beyond the virtuous impact on the environment and climate, building sustainable habits for the company benefits profit. In fact, research shows that sustainable practices not only reduce costs but also contribute to increased talent efficiency and productivity. Furthermore, making workplaces sustainable and more environmentally friendly helps improve employees’ morale, cognition and comfort while reducing absenteeism.
Finally, research shows that happy talents are more productive and creative, producing a win-win situation.
Saving across time
Promoting sustainable practices can be an investment in the beginning, but it will help companies save money in the long run. As sobriety is a key factor of sustainable development, companies will pay less in energy, single-use items, waste fees, etc. allowing them to invest further in the wellbeing of their company, their people and the planet.
