Force for Good Forecast 2021
Our indispensable sustainability and stakeholder trend tracker is back.
Photo by Cristina Gottardi (edited) on Unsplash
Could your organization benefit from an executive briefing on the trends in this report? Email ewohlgemuth@future500.org for more information.
Each year, around this time, we publish the Force for Good Forecast, our team's signature annual report. We do so to help corporate leaders navigate and lead on the year's most notable social and environmental advocacy trends.
It’s the kind of report you’d usually find behind a paywall, but we provide it for free. Why? When we launched this report a decade ago, we saw a need to elevate corporate awareness of stakeholder engagement and embed it across a company’s business functions. We knew then that it was more than a “nice to have.” Today, it is critical to business success. Plus, it’s a concrete way for us to advance our mission of building trust between unusual allies––like business leaders, activists, and philanthropists––to advance business as a force for good.
Here’s a taste of this year’s lineup:
Resources Shift to Racial Justice
A rising group of activists are gaining influence, attracting funding, and changing the environmental movement’s expectations.
Bonus: Should You Publish Your EE0-1 Report?
The Renewed Urgency for Biodiversity
Companies and governments have repeatedly fallen short on protecting flora and fauna. Will this time be different?
Click here to read the report.
Will Chemical Recycling Get Cancelled?
Industry is banking on it to close the loop but activists aren’t buying the hype. Can a solution be reached before the technology is thrown to the curb?
Standardizing ESG Disclosures
Mandatory climate risk disclosures are on the horizon. This is the year to ensure they work for you.
Building Electrification
With the transportation rapidly decarbonizing, advocates are turning their attention to another major fossil fuel guzzler: homes and offices.
Reckoning With a K-Shaped Recovery
Income inequality was a simmering issue long before “social distancing” entered our vocabulary. Will the pandemic make it stakeholder capitalism’s first proving ground?
What is Net Zero, Really?
Even heavy emitters are committing to balance their carbon budget. But stakeholders want to know how you'll decarbonize before they offer applause.
Bonus: What About Hard-to-Abate Sectors?
From Community Relief to Resilience
As compounding crises begin to outstrip local capacity, advocates increasingly expect companies to help fill the void.
Can Companies Help Rescue Democracy?
Escalating political polarization is unraveling democracy. CEOs are speaking up like never before, and stakeholders are taking note.
Bonus: Beyond the U.S.
We’ve taken our best shot at these trends, but we don’t always call them right. As always, we welcome your feedback. To stay engaged with our work as we provide further analysis into these critical issues, check out our Corporate Affinity Network, or subscribe to our newsletter for regular insights from the Future 500 team. You can also listen to the webinar we hosted summarizing last year’s trends.
Could your organization benefit from an executive briefing on the trends in this report? Email ewohlgemuth@future500.org for more information.
Future 500 is a non-profit consultancy that builds trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists to advance business as a force for good. Based in San Francisco, we specialize in stakeholder engagement, sustainability strategy, and responsible communication. From stakeholder mapping to materiality assessments, partnership development to activist engagement, target setting to CSR reporting strategy, we empower our partners with the skills and relationships needed to systemically tackle today's most pressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges.
Want to learn more? Reach out any time.
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