ABIS at Paul Polman conference hosted by ING Belgium

Last week on 17.01. we attended a ING Belgium conference with Paul Polman the former CEO of our member Unilever and a co-founder of Imagine consultancy.

Paul spoke about the changes needed to face the global social and environmental challenges of our time. Climate crisis is the other side of the coin of poverty and inequality. Overproduction, over consumption, resource depletion, social tensions, erosion of trust, populism and widening inequality are all interlinked symptoms of an outdated and unsustainable economic system, a limited definition of growth and abdication of responsibility.

 The cost of inaction is already higher than the cost of action. What we need is more human willpower. We need leaders and new form of partnerships with shared ownership with dignity, respect, equal chances and compassion. We must leave nobody behind. 

 We were greatly touched by the inspirational words of Paul Polman, now we will continue in our mission and work of working togetherwith our network in advancing the role of business in society through developing research and education programs.