Bring it 2024 - we are ready. 💪🏻💪🏼💪🏽💪🏾💪🏿
We hear from the World Economic Forum that the world is plagued by a duo of dangerous crises: climate and conflict. The finger on the pulse is that things will get worse… 🛑 Climate change will intersect with demographic bifurcation (change in populations), technological acceleration and geostrategic shifts (evolution in how geopolitical power is concentrated - and where it comes from). We are in a “crisis vortex” - in the words of the International Labor Organisation.
But let’s remember - the greater the crises, the greater the opportunity. ⭐️ The opportunity for learning, for collaboration, for holistic vision and for cross-functional ambitious action. We see 2024 as a pivotal year. A pivotal year for the world, for sustainable business, for climate action, for rights respect in company supply chains, for biodiversity and nature, and the list goes on.
It’s lovely to see that many of you caught up on climate and human rights reading over the holidays. 📖📖 We know because we have a very large number of new subscribers (welcome! 👋🏼) and we have heard from a number of you what you have learnt over the holidays.
It’s also lovely to hear that many of you disconnected completely and enjoyed good conversation, films, books, music, and food. The disconnect and the connect go hand in hand. 🎉
I’m back from an amazing trip to New York 🍎, my second home, where I learnt about how immigrants started new businesses at my fave museum of all times (Tenement Museum), re-connected with the city with over 23,000 steps per day, and caught up on fiction reading.
Have any of you read The Measure by Nikki Erlick? If you could know how many years you had left to live, would you want to? How would knowing how long you have left on this world affect how you live your life? (Don’t worry, this is not a spoiler alert - it’s clear from the book jacket that this is the premise of the book!)
I’m one of those people who lives life thinking there is a real possibility I could die tomorrow. Perhaps a remnant of my early career working in human rights in conflict zones with bombs going off next to me and face-to-face with mass graves. What this does is it installs in you a sense that the click is ticking very loudly and quickly on your impact. And that is in fact the case - for all of us. ⏳ Because it truly is the next 5 years that will determine the world for generations and generations to come. Not my view - those of hundreds of scientists.
So yes, bring it 2024. We are all here and we are all ready. Looking forward to impactful, ambitious, and joyful collaborations with all of you this year. 💫
Anna
P.S: We have set next Thursday as our closing date for our new London position of Business and Human Rights Senior Advisor and Manager. See here if this could be you - note that we are only considering applications that send over the three items discussed.
