An Aditya Birla Group Commitment 51 Strategic Stakeholder Engagement WHY BUILDING BUSINESSES FIT FOR THE FUTURE MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE Expert Opinion The future isn’t something that just happens to us. By creating positive visions, by using scenarios to understand different future possible worlds, by tracking trends, by spotting niche innovations today and understanding how all these issues will affect business, CEOs can guide their company to a sustainable future. A sustainable business will be one that can continue to operate in a sustainable world because a sustainable world can only contain sustainable businesses. That means within the policy and legislation environment that is needed to control climate change, manage biodiversity, provide food and water for a population of 9 billion people. That means a business environment that is very different to today. Looking to the future, and incorporating those insights into business planning and strategy needs to become second nature for everyone wanting to stay in business in the next few decades and we are thrilled our futures tools and techniques are proving so useful. The ratification of the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2016 followed by the signing of the Paris Agreement in December 2016, the tide of consumer interest in ocean plastics and other impacts, and now the forthcoming ratchetting of climate commitments process means that there has never been a better time for business to get very serious indeed about their sustainability. The Sustainable Development Goals in particular provide a clear, shared vision of the world we want for 2030. At Forum for the Future we spend much of our time looking to the future in order to help businesses make better decisions today. By understanding the mega-trends shaping the business environment of the future businesses can understand how these can actually act as incredibly rich sources of innovation to help future-proof their operations. Sally Uren CEO Forum for the Future