One World, Our Responsibility – Taking Sustainability from Stance to Action

We live in an age of rapid and unprecedented change. This not only holds true from a business perspective, but also from a planetary one, and nowhere else was this more noticeable than at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Under the theme “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”, the Forum again brought more than 3,000 stakeholders together to help address the greatest ecological crisis of our time. 

The 50th edition of the World Economic Forum was estimated to produce 18,090 metric tons of CO2 in private air travel alone. We decided to not contribute to this, but take the 430km journey from Walldorf to Davos in a hydrogen-electric hybrid car. I was intrigued to discover how the infrastructure really stands up, and while we arrived safely in snowy Davos, I experienced for myself the limits to sustainable mobility options. 

Digitalization: Ever Present

Digitalization and its effect on society and business continue to be among the most discussed topics in Davos. It became very clear that we need more agile, inclusive, collaborative and comprehensive responses to address the complexity and uncertainty in many areas, and that there are many facets to the topic. 

What shape will our leadership practices need to take so we can better respond to compounding climate, economic and social crises? We discussed this during a breakfast panel on leadership for the 21st century. My take: In the digital age, the days of traditional, top-down leadership are gone; today, businesses need experimental change agents who aren’t afraid to shake things up. The leadership, at the top, must embrace and drive change, painting the big picture and making sure that every colleague understands what and why things are changing. Then again, they also have to be firm about what has to stop happening in an organization. This requires leaders who create a culture of transparency and openness. 

The health of our planet is reflected in the health of our oceans – and they are sick with plastic. Latest research reveals there could be 1 million times more microplastics floating in our oceans than previously thought. To tackle this, businesses need to rapidly shift to alternatives for single use plastic, scale design for circularity, invest in waste infrastructure and ensure a better consumer experience. I am thrilled that SAP joined WEF's Global Plastic Action Partnership community and shared our vision for a world free of plastic pollution and waste during a panel together with The Coca-Cola Company, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and the World Wildlife Foundation. 

Technology and Digitalization for a Better Tomorrow

I already shared my views on how to use digital transformation to create a more sustainable world, and these ideas were also part of the discussion about how technologies can help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our pledge is to use our extensive resources to make a positive global impact and help countries, private and public sector organizations, as well as citizens control risk, achieve regulatory compliance, use resources efficiently, and innovate new business models in the digital economy. 

Our solutions help eradicate slavery from supply chains just as much as they help companies move away from single use plastics to sustainable, alternative material. Our products help end deforestation, promote environmental awareness, and improve quality of life. SAP software is used to predict and prevent disasters, eliminate gender inequality, and educate people who have never had the opportunity to enter a classroom. And with consumers increasingly demanding sustainable and fair products, decision making moves from optimizing business models and operational excellence towards including sustainability as a third and equally important dimension. We will invest into a major sustainability initiative in 2020 to help our customers reach their sustainability goals. For all our solutions, we will introduce CO2 footprint as another metric to get more insights across the value chain and compare this to other enterprises as well as external benchmarks to help our customers both understand and minimize the carbon footprint of their products and operations within their organizations and beyond. 

Few people have the chance to actively help shape the outcome of truly historic transformations. I am a firm believer that this is ours – but the clocks are ticking, and we need an action plan. Davos was a first step, and it is now upon us to continue and execute. Together with our customers, we want to take the right decisions and act – for a fair digital economy and a better and sustainable world.