For a thriving environmental, social and economic future, only one direction is possible: toward an economy that operates within the capacity of the planet. While policymakers fail to find common ground to ignite change, many top business leaders see a bold transition as necessary for maintaining their license to operate and recognize that the future of business is a sustainable one. This is a considerable shift from where business was a mere five years ago. And a sign that things are headed in the right direction.
But the gap between where we are and where we need to be is still far too wide.
Could it be that business leaders don’t actually know what it will take to deliver on big commitments? Are they struggling to tackle the barriers to change? Or does the challenge seem far too massive and beyond their control? One thing is certain: There will be no transformation without courage. Business leaders must have grit and be willing to go against the status quo and call out obstacles along the way.
Isabelle Grosmaitre, founder of Goodness & Co; Dimitri Caudrelier, CEO of Quantis; and Emmanuelle Duez, founder of The Boson Project, believe that designing solutions to bring about meaningful change at the scale we need requires a deep understanding of the barriers to transformation leaders face. They've joined forces to identify and better understand these obstacles — and help leaders overcome them.
Over the course of the past year, the trio interviewed dozens of CEOs and C-level executives from leading companies to uncover the major challenges leaders face in driving sustainable transformation, key levers for change and how confident they feel about the sustainability trajectory we’re on.
For some, it was the first time they were speaking openly and frankly about these obstacles — largely of a structural and cultural nature. This presented a clear opportunity — one for business leaders to come together to share their experiences, discuss challenges and co-create solutions that tackle their most prevalent pain points.
These discussions will shape Generation Glasgow, a task force that brings together business leaders eager to move past the political theater of the global climate conference circuit and get to work blazing a trail to transformation. Initial members of the group include leaders from more than 30 leading organizations.
