The 2024 World Tour
Agents of Change 2024 kicked off at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Senior business executives convened alongside UN hosts to discuss the impact of three megatrends - geopolitics, climate change and artificial intelligence - on the business sector and their role as agents of change. Over the course of the year, similar gatherings were held at UN offices in Santiago, Singapore and Accra.
New York City, USA
The first event of the 2024 World Tour was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on 11 January.
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Geopolitics was on everyone's mind as we began an historic year of elections, where half of the world's population had the opportunity to vote in a new leader. In the US, discussion of "DEI" and "ESG" had turned political, and corporate investment in these areas was facing greater scrutiny. Additionally, the war in Gaza was creating corporate dilemmas, as companies struggled to support the mental health of employees on both ends of the spectrum.​
​​Although the mood was somber, participants left feeling energised. The findings from the Mindful Exclusion report resonated, and they drew inspiration from connecting with other leaders facing similar challenges. They were also excited to hear from the hosts, given the United Nation's long history of "staying in conversation" with member states regardless of their differences​.​​
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Santiago, Chile
The second event of the 2024 World Tour was held at the United Nations offices in Santiago, Chile on 26 March.
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There was a greater emphasis on sustainability in this session, given the country's direct exposure to the impact of climate change. The glaciers in Patagonia are said to be retreating faster than anywhere else in the world. Also, at the time of this session, Chile had just experienced the most deadly wildfires on record.
Once again, insights from the Mindful Exclusion report resonated deeply with participants - particularly the concept of 'bubble blindness' given the historic insularity of corporate boards in Chile. That said, we learnt that recent events - including the civil unrest of 2019 - had created momentum for change. Corporate governance regulation was about to take effect that would force boards to take more accountability for their ripple effects. Participants were hopeful about the impact that this might have.
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Singapore
The third event of the 2024 World Tour took place in Singapore on 12 August. It was held at the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development - a collaboration between UNDP and the Singapore government. This held particular significance, given our interest in learning from Singapore's advanced approach to tech integration and curiosity about how this intersected with the growing focus on sustainability.
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The passion in the room for being a change agent was palpable, and a sense of trust and community was quickly formed. Participants again resonated with key insights from the Mindful Exclusion report, with the national context adding different nuances. In a relatively small country with massive global interdependencies, the need to 'see beyond your bubble' took on a different level of significance. Likewise, the concept of 'long-term urgency' struck a deep chord with many. This was not a surprise given the government's history of thinking 50+ years ahead when making decisions.
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Justine's post​​
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Accra, Ghana
The fourth and final event of the 2024 World Tour was held at the United Nations offices in Accra, Ghana on 12 November.
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This was the largest of the four gatherings, and the energy in the room was explosive. The importance of intersectionality had the greatest resonance with leaders in Accra - i.e., not just going beyond your bubble, but exploring the interdependence between your bubbles. ​ Ghana is used to having people in the West brainstorm linear solutions on its behalf that fail to have the desired impact. The frustration with this was voiced by many business leaders in the room. Likewise, the opportunity to come together and pool knowledge in order to drive collective change was wholeheartedly welcomed.
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