The industrial sector is tremendously important, and the benefits of positive transformation in this sector have the potential to make a huge impact economically and in many other respects. Carbon neutrality or even carbon negativity will be extremely important to society and crucial to the competitiveness of businesses.
The tide is turning for sustainable business
We have seen tremendous growth in genuinely sustainable investments in recent years, and especially last year the tide really began to turn. It has been inspiring to see the many new breakthroughs achieved by large companies and how smaller businesses like start-ups and scale-ups are using technology to develop and build on sustainable solutions. It is also great to see the desire from the next generation to work for purpose-driven companies and buy and consume sustainable products and services. The huge wake-up call of the COVID-19 crisis has shown what we can achieve if we put our minds to it.
Business for good is good business
My personal mission is to help people and companies see that addressing sustainability challenges is in all of our best interests, and that positive impact and financial profit are not mutually exclusive but have a positive synergy. Business for good is good business. I strive to get this message across by demonstrating the many good examples we can see from around the world. I also strive to demonstrate to top leaders that they can and indeed must take responsibility for the world and the economy at large by focusing their efforts on developing fair and sustainable tax systems and regulatory frameworks, encouraging collaboration between different industrial sectors, and stimulating investment. Achieving a circular economy needs top leaders to collaborate with each other and with governments on these topics.