Business and Development: Challenges and Opportunities in a Rapidly Changing World

The world is experiencing a historic shift of economic and political power from the traditional base of industrialized countries to the emerging economies. Developing countries are undergoing their own historic shifts as burgeoning cities replace rural areas as the centers of population and economic activity.

By 2050, 85 percent of the world’s estimated 9 billion inhabitants will live in what currently are called “developing countries,” and most of those will live in the cities and megacities being built today.

Yet poverty and inequity in many countries remain critical challenges for sustainable development and global stability. Meeting the basic needs of a growing and increasingly urbanized population in developing countries — as well as the aspirations of their middle classes — will increase demand for energy and natural resources, exacerbating the pressure on the world’s ecosystems.

This means that there is no longer a choice between economic growth and environmental well-being: they are interdependent, and if we do not make sure we have both, we risk ending up with neither.

Business has a critical role to play as an engine of economic growth and employment, and a driver of innovation and technology development. Particularly important is the private sector’s role as a source of capital for developing countries: globally private sector investments make up over 85 percent of investment and fi nancial flows.

This document is a call to action to our colleagues in business and a call to cooperation and partnership to the other sectors of society, in order to meet the needs of all, in ways that do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.