The Editor’s Post: The defiance of the impact community
As the world becomes more hostile to the concept of an impact economy, the mood at the ChangeNow conference indicates supporting systems change for the greater good has become an act of resistance. Laura Joffre reports from Paris.
Last week I was in Paris to attend the ChangeNow conference, a gathering of no less than 40,000 people from the world of “impact” in the spectacular Grand Palais, a cathedral-like, glass-roofed building built for the 1900 World Expo. Among delegates were social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, impact investors, corporates, think tanks as well as various networks and representative bodies. If there is a good opportunity to gauge the mood of the impact sector, ChangeNow is it.
The previous time I was at ChangeNow was two years ago; so I had a quick look at what I wrote at the time to remind myself of what the vibe was, then. In 2023, there was a certain element of reasonable hope. Even if systems change wasn’t happening fast enough, it felt like things were moving in the right direction: people were having the right conversations, big business was starting to get the message, “sustainability is growing up”, I remember Erinch Sahan saying at the time.
This year was different. While the same spirit of solutions-finding was there, it was clear people knew it was happening in a much more hostile environment: conflicts have become more cruel and more entrenched than ever in this century; democracy is being eroded around the world; the economic crisis is putting sustainability at the back of the queue; Donald Trump has become, again, president of the United States.
It’s arguable that since he took over the White House over 100 days ago, the US president has definitely been changing the system, but probably not the way ChangeNow attendees were asking for in 2023. Now, calls for unity, collaboration and leadership, while not new, are taking a different dimension: for a business to continue diversity programmes has become an act of resistance in the face of Trump’s executive orders – which he’s trying to impose even beyond US borders. “ESG” has almost become a no-go zone. Lifesaving aid funding is being slashed.
But many ChangeNow speakers and attendees were defiant in the face of these obstacles. Paul Polman expressed it quite well: if you want to be a good leader, don’t drop your sustainability policies just because of a phone call from the US president.
There was, inevitably, a high dose of wishful thinking, in my opinion. But something was really uplifting: the conference’s exhibition space was packed with 1,000 startups and non-profits showcasing their innovative solutions to environmental and social crises – perhaps a reminder that the impact economy is a diverse ecosystem made of thousands little things, remarkably resilient in the face of ever-growing challenges.
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Top picture: a thousand startups and nonprofits showcased their solutions to environment and social issues at the ChangeNow conference
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