The Global Business Outlook for 2022

Dealing with inflation, rising interest rates and the need to deliver on ESG commitments are all high on the agenda for leaders in 2022. Here, Community Members talk Emma Carroll through the specific challenges and opportunities they face.

Featuring commentary from:

Matthew Blagg, CEO, Criticaleye: Leaders must be genuine, transparent and consistent – if they aren’t, then stakeholders will start to unpick the actions they have taken.

Jens Drewes, President, Kuehne + Nagel, Asia Pacific: One of the biggest continuing trends will be the requirement for digitalisation. When you compare Asia and Europe, the digital adoption rate in Asia is faster.

Andrea Gisle Joosen, Chair, Acast AB & Board Mentor, Criticaleye: The EU is pushing very hard on ESG regulations now, and every Board has to take that into consideration and work through what that means for them.

Martin Grieve, SVP, Corporate Finance, Reckitt: With greater volatility in revenue and cost lines, businesses will need to be more dynamic in forecasting and communicating expectations to stakeholders.

Sheila Khama, NED, Tullow Oil & Board Mentor, Criticaleye: Out of COP26, countries have pledged $8.5 billion to South Africa to accelerate its decarbonisation. So, in the long term, you will see a decline in coal mining, but in the short term, countries are unlikely to simply shut down coal power stations.

Janet Mui, Head of Market Analysis, Brewin Dolphin: We expect headline inflation to peak in the second quarter of 2022 and then we’ll see moderation.