Giving Compass' Take:

· BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer addresses the new climate for business and the three strategic challenges every business will face in 2020. 

· What major shifts have taken place in recent years? How are businesses taking action against climate change?

· Here's how companies can drive the new climate economy.


We are at a hinge point in history.

The French refer to the 30 years after the end of World War II as “Les Trente Glorieuses,” or “The Glorious 30 Years,” when prosperity flowered, culture was dynamic, and peaceful conditions prevailed after two devastating wars.

For business, the three decades following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 can be seen the same way. During that time, the market economy has been the world’s dominant organizing principle, business has largely thrived (notwithstanding the global financial crisis), innovation has flowered, and huge numbers of people have enjoyed improved living conditions, especially in the Global South.

As we enter the 2020s, we are at a new hinge point in history. Every business today is facing three strategic challenges:

  • First, there is the need to redefine the role of business in society, in sync with changing expectations, and establish clear business purpose that goes beyond short-term profits.
  • Second, we face the urgent objective to shift the economy to a path that delivers truly shared prosperity that respects the natural boundaries of our planet, not least the climate crisis.
  • Third, every company must craft a strategy that navigates an unprecedented set of disruptions—and in some cases existential questions—that are rapidly reshaping the competitive environment.

These strategic challenges come as a result of major paradigm shifts that have taken place in recent years. Changes in policy, politics, public perception, and the natural world are creating profound impacts for business.

Read the full article about the new climate for business and the decisive decade of the 2020s by Aron Cramer at Business for Social Responsibility.