Bloomberg today released the results of a survey of 2,000 business professionals from across the globe who were asked what the future will hold as the world shifts towards new economies, and a majority from both developed and emerging countries said they believe that by 2035 the world will be reaching “the point of no return” on climate change.
- Bloomberg’s chief economist, Tom Orlik, told ODP that he believes the survey results point to “a shift in the mindset of professionals across the globe,” that climate change as an issue should be elevated, and that this realization “should be sparking significant policy changes” by governments and also that “businesses need to be preparing.“
Why This Matters: President Trump said as recently as the G20 in June that the U.S. should not join with the rest of the world on tackling climate change because the rest of the word must first do its part when it comes to reducing their emissions. What this survey shows is that business professionals around the globe see climate for the threat it is. The U.S. can either lead on climate change and reap the benefits of the new economic opportunities that business professionals around the world foresee, or we can be destined to follow the leaders. In the meantime, let’s hope that when Bloomberg convenes its New Economy Forum in Beijing next November with 500 of the world’s most influential leaders in business, tech, academia, and government (including from the U.S.) they come up with some innovative solutions to climate challenges so we don’t end up at the point of no return.
Climate Change and Tech Are the Future
- Of the majority of business professionals across the world who agree that by 2035, we will be reaching the point of no return on climate change, 58 percent globally strongly agree or agree.
- This belief is strongest in developed economies such as the United Kingdom (64 percent), France (63 percent) and Germany (59 percent).
- Interestingly, 52 percent of global business professionals also agree that rising sea levels will have already wiped the first low-lying country off the map by 2035.
- Respondents in Asia believe self-driving cars will be more common than individually owned automobiles in 2035.
- Bloomberg’s Andrew Browne, summed up the survey findings this way: “Developing countries, in general, see technology more as an opportunity while the developed world has a greater sense of technology as a threat.”
Survey Says China and India Will Pass the U.S.
According to the survey results, 54 percent of the respondents from developed and emerging countries are convinced that by 2035, China and India will have surpassed the U.S. as the world’s centers of tech innovation.
- A substantial percentage (49 percent) of the survey’s respondents in developed markets (including U.S. respondents) strongly agreed or agreed with the prediction that China and India will eclipse the U.S. in technology.
- Even more (59 percent) respondents in emerging markets predicted that China and Indian will dominate the sector by 2035.
- And 39 percent of global respondents believe that Beijing will be the world’s top tech city by 2035, with more respondents (45 percent) in emerging markets strongly agreeing and agreeing than in developed markets (31 percent).
July 23, 2019 »
