Glossary — Sustainability & future society

ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)

Definition : ESG is a framework for evaluating an organization on three dimensions, its environmental impact, its treatment of people and communities, and the quality of its governance. It is used by investors, regulators, and companies to assess performance beyond financial results.

Importance  : considerations increasingly affect access to capital, reputation, and regulatory standing. Treating them as a strategic issue rather than a compliance exercise helps organizations manage risk and meet rising expectations from stakeholders.

Sustainable Innovation

Definition : Sustainable Innovation is the development of products, services, and processes that create value while reducing environmental and social harm. It seeks solutions that are good for the business and for the wider world at the same time.

Importance : As sustainability becomes a competitive and regulatory reality, innovation that ignores it carries growing risk. Sustainable innovation lets organizations meet these demands while opening new markets and efficiencies, aligning long-term profit with responsibility.

Circular Economy

Definition : The Circular Economy is an economic model designed to keep materials and products in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, and recycling. It contrasts with the traditional linear model of take, make, and dispose.

Importance : Circular approaches reduce waste and dependence on scarce resources while often lowering costs. As pressure on materials and the environment grows, the circular economy offers a model that is both more sustainable and increasingly good business.

 

Net Zero Strategy

Definition : A Net Zero Strategy is an organization’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as far as possible and balance any remainder so that its net contribution to warming is zero. It combines cutting emissions with offsetting or removing what cannot yet be eliminated.

Importance : Net zero commitments are becoming standard expectations from investors, regulators, and customers. A credible strategy manages the associated risks and costs while positioning the organization for a low-carbon future that many markets are already moving toward.

 

Regenerative Business

Definition : A Regenerative Business goes beyond reducing harm to actively restoring and improving the environmental and social systems it touches. It aims to leave people and ecosystems better off rather than merely doing less damage.

Importance :  As expectations rise, minimizing harm is starting to look like a floor rather than a goal. Regenerative approaches let organizations create positive impact that strengthens their reputation and resilience while contributing to the systems they depend on.

Social Innovation

Definition : Social Innovation is the development of new solutions to social problems that are more effective, efficient, or equitable than existing approaches. It applies creativity and enterprise to challenges such as education, health, and inequality.

Importance : Many pressing problems will not be solved by existing methods alone, and organizations are expected to contribute to addressing them. Social innovation lets businesses create value for society in ways that also build trust, talent, and long-term relevance.

 

Future of Cities (Smart Cities)

Definition : The Future of Cities, often discussed as smart cities, concerns how urban areas are being reshaped by technology, data, and sustainability. It covers the use of connected systems to manage transport, energy, services, and infrastructure more efficiently.

Importance : With most of the world’s population living in cities, how those cities evolve affects nearly every industry and citizen. Anticipating the shift toward smarter, more sustainable urban systems reveals opportunities across technology, infrastructure, and services.

Demographic Megatrends

Definition : Demographic Megatrends are large, long-term shifts in population, such as aging societies, changing birth rates, migration, and urbanization. Because they unfold slowly and predictably, their broad direction can be established with confidence.

Importance :  Demographic shifts are among the clearest Hard Trends, reshaping labor markets, demand, and public policy over decades. Planning around them gives organizations a rare foundation of near-certainty for long-range strategy.

 

Global Connectivity

Definition : Global Connectivity is the growing interconnection of people, organizations, and systems through digital networks and communication. It reflects how information, commerce, and relationships increasingly span the entire world in real time.

Importance : Connectivity has reshaped how business, culture, and ideas move across borders, creating both opportunity and new forms of risk. Understanding its continued expansion helps organizations reach wider markets while managing the interdependence it creates.

Digital Inclusion

Definition : Digital Inclusion is the effort to ensure that all people have access to digital technologies and the skills to use them. It addresses the gap between those who can participate fully in a digital society and those who cannot.

Importance : As essential services and opportunities move online, exclusion from the digital world deepens inequality. Advancing digital inclusion widens markets and talent pools while helping ensure that the benefits of technology are broadly shared.

 

Longevity Economy

Definition :The Longevity Economy is the economic activity generated by people living longer, healthier lives, including the products, services, and industries that serve an aging and long-lived population. It spans healthcare, finance, work, and consumer markets shaped by increased lifespans.

Importance : As lifespans extend, the longevity economy becomes a major and growing source of demand and change. Anticipating it, alongside demographic megatrends, helps organizations design offerings for a population whose needs and spending are shifting with age.

 

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