ERM at Davos on business leadership for a sustainable world

ERM CEO and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Executive Committee member Keryn James spoke at the World Economic Forum this week in Davos, where fellow CEOs and senior executives from WBCSD member companies called for a greater commitment to action.

Keryn spoke at the WBCSD CEO Roundtable on "Business leadership for a sustainable world: Accelerating systems transformation in line with WBCSD’s Vision 2050."

Originally released in 2010, Vision 2050 lays out a pathway to a world in which nine billion people are able to live well, within the limits of the planet by mid-century. A decade later, many of the Vision’s core concepts have stood the test of time, however a number of topics have either increased in importance or emerged as critical new areas within the sustainable development landscape and beyond.

In response, the WBCSD has launched the Vision 2050 Refresh and ERM is one of 39 companies involved in the initiative. Keryn shared her perspectives on how ERM is partnering with clients to navigate the competing demands of short-term expectations for results with the longer-term need to transform their businesses to adapt to changing economic conditions and societal expectations.

To bring this to a sharper focus, she then spoke at another WBCSD event focused on the business response to the global climate emergency. Citing examples of ERM’s work with some of the world’s most energy intensive companies, she shared best practices from these leading companies that are building plans to manage climate risk and in turn disclose their approaches to stakeholders in line with the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations. These best practices include utilizing the most recent science, coupled with robust models and internal and external stakeholder engagement.

It is through engaging with global leaders from the business community, academics, governments, civil society and NGOs, that ERM provides practical responses to the global challenges of today, and the future.