In an environment where trust in CEOs is dropping, distrust in corporations is growing and the markets with the greatest future opportunities are in emerging economies, a group of business and civil society leaders are calling for business models to radically change and become more socially focused.
Companies across all sectors must operate fundamentally differently or risk helping create further global economic downturns and jeopardizing their businesses. They must restore trust, tackle the Sustainable Development Goals and work to put the global economy on a surer footing, according to a new report from the Business and Sustainable Development Commission released Monday.
“This has got to be about a real business revolution in partnership with governments and civil society,” said Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the chair of the commission, a group of about 35 business, finance, civil society and labor leaders, which launched a year ago to promote the business case for the SDGs and outline how it can contribute.
Read more on our coverage of the World Economic Forum:
► Pharmaceutical companies launch new initiative to tackle NCDs
► China could gain clout if US backs out of climate commitments, experts say
► How this tech startup drew the attention of Gavi, Gates and Google
► Q&A: Plan International CEO on legitimacy in a moment of populism
► Opinion: What the development community can expect from Davos
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
