Davos 2024: The future of sustainable business is 'regeneration'

Instead of just responding to the business effects of climate change, leaders at this year's World Economic Forum are discussing creating a proactive positive impact.

From lethal heat waves to city-stopping floods, the harms of climate change are becoming increasingly clear around the world. So, too, is whom the public holds responsible: industries and corporations.

In the US, for example, 52% of respondents to an October 2023 Pew Research Center survey said they believe large businesses and corporations can do "a lot" to reduce the effects of climate change, and 55% said the same of the energy industry. Just 27% responded that individual Americans had the same power.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of business leaders are seeing the effects of extreme weather events on their bottom line. In a 2022 Deloitte survey, 97% of global executives said their companies already have experienced negative consequences of climate change, such as disruptions to their supply chains.

To be successful both now and in the future, say many experts, businesses need to reform their practices to be less vulnerable to the increasing risks posed by climate change.

It's little wonder, then, that the topic of resilience has dominated climate discussions at 2024's World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.   

"We know that the growth that we've experienced over the years has been powered with an overconsumption of Earth's finite resources," said Gim Huay Neo, managing director of World Economic Forum Geneva, while chairing a Davos on 17 January. "The big question that companies have to navigate is, can they continue to grow, can they continue to generate profits, while cutting emissions and stopping depleting natural resources">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });