Today’s problems are too big for any one country or any one sector to face alone. They require an innovative, global approach that brings together governments, NGOs, and for-profit business as partners, and is designed and implemented regionally and locally.
Sustainability and inclusion are the two biggest challenges facing our planet today. With these challenges come many opportunities, including the innovative use of technologies to create more sustainable and inclusive solutions. Countries working individually will not be able to solve our climate crisis and other global challenges, and governments cannot succeed acting alone. To chart the way forward, we will need an integrated approach that brings public and private sectors together. This will be my priority in my new role leading PwC’s International Development practice worldwide.
I am honoured to have been entrusted with this important responsibility, building upon my current roles leading the Public Sector and Infrastructure practice and the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme for PwC Central and Eastern Europe.
That’s a lot of roles, but I truly believe they complement one another. In fact, in combining the International Development Leader role with the others, I look forward to helping bring a new diversity of perspectives that I hope will help energise and refine our practice.
Inclusive future
For me, they all serve the same purpose: to use cooperation – global, regional and local, private and public, big and small – to build and ensure a sustainable, inclusive future.
Businesses have an ever-growing role to play in creating a stronger society. All our work at PwC serves the PwC purpose of building trust in society as we solve our clients’ important problems. And this is particularly true for our International Development practice. Businesses have a responsibility to help tackle societal and environmental challenges.
As a native of central Europe, over the past three decades I’ve seen the immense power of the private sector to improve people’s lives when economic freedoms and market stability are promoted.
At the same time, in recent years I’ve also come to see the limits of what hard-line capitalism can accomplish if it’s not aligned with the broader community’s interests.
Today’s problems are too big for any one country or any one sector to face alone. They require an innovative, global approach that brings together governments, NGOs, and for-profit business as partners, and is designed and implemented regionally and locally. And PwC is uniquely positioned as a partner in those efforts thanks to our values, our network, our experience and most of all our people.
Passionate practitioners
Our International Development practice is a collaboration of passionate practitioners working together globally and locally with business, public bodies and civil society to drive inclusive and sustainable development outcomes and impact. The combination of our global network of expertise and local presence and engagement has an ever greater role to play. We need international cooperation that takes into account local differences/competition, but finds common goals to work around the divisions.
That’s the role I want PwC to play.
In the coming months, I’ll work together with our teams around the world to guide and facilitate this important discussion. I look forward to hosting a series of conversations to speak with stakeholders from all walks of life about the challenges we all face and how we can work together to advance sustainable global development. Together, we will explore topics such as:
- the future of multilateralism
- global health and technologies
- inclusive education
- the importance of both young and mature voices
- prosperity and economic growth
- technologies for global good
- sustainability / ESG and the move to Net Zero
- and more.
For the first one, I’ll be joined by Blair Sheppard, PwC’s Global Leader, Strategy and Leadership, to discuss the future of multilateralism. I hope you’ll tune in and join the conversation.
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