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Punit Renjen
Deloitte Global CEO
Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO
A letter from
*Compared to an October 2021 survey of 23,000 respondents in 23 countries conducted by Deloitte, where only 49% claimed to have recently
experienced a climate-related event. The CxO study appears to show much higher perception of, exposure to, and concern for climate change.
IN AUGUST 2021, UN Secretary General António Guterres
described the climate projections from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report as “a code red for
humanity.” The report was published during a period that
brought historic, deadly flooding in western Europe and China;
uncontrollable fires in the Mediterranean and the western
United States; and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest of
North America. The report projected that such disasters will
soon be far more common—and far more severe.
Between September and October 2021, right after the
IPCC Report was published, Deloitte polled more than 2,000
C-suite executives across 21 countries to examine business
leaders’ and companies’ concerns and actions when it comes to
climate change and environmental sustainability. We wanted to
know how CxOs were transforming their businesses to meet the
moment.
While no one person or entity can tackle climate change alone,
business leaders have a platform to support their own
organizations’ climate transformation efforts, engage their
employees in meaningful action, advocate for external
organizations’ taking steps to fight climate change, and
collaborate and innovate on sustainability solutions across
industries and disciplines. Moreover, CxOs are well positioned to
advocate for change: Our research found that CxOs appear to
show much higher perception of and concern for climate change
than the general public.*
Climate, indeed, weighs heavily on the minds of the world’s
executives. The results of our latest survey suggest CxOs’
concerns about the planet’s future have increased significantly
over the past eight months—but so has their optimism that
immediate action can make a difference. They understand that
the future of our planet depends on business cutting carbon
emissions and ingraining more sustainable practices into their
operations, and many are approaching the challenge with the
gravity and urgency it deserves.
