Also: RIP Charlie Munger, promoting Black employees, Mexico buys Chinese cars. 
Good morning, Peter Vanham here in Abu Dhabi.
If you can’t beat it, adapt to it. That’s a key takeaway from the Fortune Global Forum that just ended here in the UAE, where participants discussed climate and technology ahead of the UN climate summit starting later this week in Dubai.
Across several panels, executives pointed to the fundamental ways their companies are adapting to a new era marked by net zero carbon emissions targets while also adopting new business models based on AI and other disruptive technologies. Some excerpts:
Digitization and decarbonization go hand in hand. Our strategy is decarbonized growth. We have a 2030 target, and a clear pathway to achieve it.”
— Moosa Al-Moosa, president, Middle East and Turkey for Dow.
“There is no trade-off. I wouldn’t have said this five years ago. But the way we see governments acting, the way we see customers behaving: it make us optimistic.”
— Walid Sheta, president, Middle East and Africa for Schneider Electric.
“The combination between digital adoption and sustainability is unique in building a competitive advantage.”
— Siemens Middle East CEO Helmut von Struve.
While the structural changes underway may not be too little if these transformations continue, they will most likely come too late to prevent global warming and an increase in extreme weather events, participants said.
Earlier this morning, for example, investor Ray Dalio pointed to climate change as one of the five mega-trends shaping the future of the global economy, including the rise and fall of its dominant empire.
“Drought, floods, and pandemics: Climate is a major force,” he told Alan Murray in a wide-ranging interview. “Whatever is done or not done, it’s going to be very costly.”
Faced with this costly reality, author and entrepreneur Parag Khanna suggested it is time for business and government to move from only climate mitigation to a much larger focus on climate adaptation.
“It’s not going to start raining in Mali tomorrow because today you drive more Teslas in France,” Khanna told me. “So it is in many ways unethical to focus only on achieving net zero and ignoring the plight of the billions of people who are already suffering from climate stress today.”
The solution, he suggested, is to “balance out” climate mitigation and adaptation. Today, he said, 95% of efforts go to mitigation. That ratio should tilt much more to adaptation, including among people and businesses in the U.S. or Europe making investment decisions about their own lives and livelihoods.
Remember, he said in a presentation, “The climate is not going to adapt to us. We have to adapt to it.”
More news below.
Peter Vanham
peter.vanham@fortune.com
@petervanham
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RIP Charlie Munger
Charlie Munger, the legendary investor who helped Warren Buffett build Berkshire Hathaway, died yesterday at age 99. Munger was worth a reported $2.6 billion at his death, and had given away much of his fortune to beneficiaries like Planned Parenthood and Stanford University. Munger is credited with shaping Buffett's investment philosophy; he encouraged his business partner to back fundamentally-sound businesses rather than hunting for bargains. Fortune
Promoting Black employees
U.S. companies have lost momentum on promoting Black employees after making strides following the 2020 racial reckoning. Firms have achieved some progress at the highest levels—there are now eight Black Fortune 500 CEOs—but the rate at which they're promoting Black employees to their first managerial positions has returned to 2019 levels. Wall Street Journal
Chinese cars in Mexico
Chinese carmakers have cracked the Mexican market. The North American country was the No. 1 importer of Chinese cars last year and trails only Russia this year. Chinese brands, which essentially had no presence in Mexico until 2016, accounted for 20% of all 2023 Mexico car sales through October. Bloomberg
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Yes SF Names Top Innovators Fourteen Top Innovators named in “Yes SF, Urban Sustainability Challenge,” the first location-based UpLink challenge supported by Deloitte, the World Economic Forum, Salesforce and 20+ collaborators. Innovator solutions will help revitalize San Francisco, making it a more sustainable place to live and work. Read more
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Network with AI leaders in San Francisco |
Limited space remaining for Brainstorm AI 2023 on Dec. 11-12 Our third annual conference will reveal the sector's opportunities and pressing challenges. Join already confirmed leaders from Google, Walmart International, Capital One, Wells Fargo, General Motors, Khosla Ventures, Salesforce AI, Databricks, and Accenture. Apply here to claim your spot |
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