From 27 to 29 June 2023, Impact One participated in the World Economic Forum’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China. CEO of Impact One, Mikolaj Sekutowicz, was invited to speak at the convening that drew together 1,500 global leaders from business, government, civil society and international organisations, as well as innovators and academics. Stakeholders from around the world returned to the tradition of the Forum’s “Summer Davos” on this year’s theme of Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy.
Li Qiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China
© Copyright: World Economic Forum/Benedikt von Loebell
Opening the annual meeting, Li Qiang, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, welcomed participants and set the tone of the convening:
“Unilateralism, protectionism and de-globalisation are on the rise, global challenges are escalating and regional conflicts keep flaring up. Instability, uncertainty and unpredictability have become commonplace. On the other hand, the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is gaining momentum. Humanity is as steadfast as ever in pursuing peace and development for most countries. The aspiration for win-win cooperation has grown even stronger. The world is standing at a historical crossroads. How should humanity navigate such turbulent times is a crucial issue of shared concern for people of all countries.”
– Li Qiang, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China
Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic
Forum Geneva also stated
“The world, in these times, needs bold and visionary leaders who can harness the power of innovation, force a common good and who can collaborate across sectors, regions, nations and cultures to create a more peaceful, inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.”
– Klaus Schwab, Founder, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum Geneva
Increasingly competitive geopolitical and geo-economic environments pose major challenges for decision-makers to make progress on critical common goals, such as energy transition and safeguarding nature and climate. As various crises continue to impact the global economy, the annual meeting highlighted the urgent need for global collaboration and innovative, yet practical solutions. Recognising these global challenges, Impact One is working towards implementing scalable and evidence-based solutions for promoting social and economic models for healthy, climate-positive urban living. By introducing a new asset class of Wellbeing Infrastructure, Impact One looks to restore a balance between nature and contemporary urban life.
Bringing Impact One’s expertise on nature-positive interventions in cities to the fore, Mikolaj Sekutowicz was invited to speak on the panel Watering the Concrete Jungle: The Growth of Nature-Positive Cities on Tuesday, 27 June 2023. Panellists included Yoo Jeong-Bok, Mayor of South Korea’s Incheon Metropolitan City; Kotchakorn Voraakhom, Chairwoman of Climate Change Working Group at the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA World); and Xuemei Bai, Distinguished Professor for Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University. The goal was to propel the conversationon the systemic and economic barriers that continue to hinder urban resilience, liveability, equality and prosperity.
Klaus Schwab, Founder, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum Geneva
© Copyright: World Economic Forum/Benedikt von Loebel
The discussion centred on solutions for restoring biodiversity, such as increased tree-canopy cover, green stormwater infrastructure, urban parks and pedestrian streets, and how their implementation can increase social, health and economic benefits with the potential to create more than 59 million jobs worldwide.
This dialogue was a foundation stone for an upcoming journey of Impact One’s platform partnership with the Forum’s Nature-Positive Cities agenda and its flagship community, the Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities, set to begin in the fall of 2023. The commission addresses shared urban development challenges and taps into the power of trusted public-private interaction to design the cities of the future: ones that assume a regenerative approach towards nature and that see in ecosystem health an imperative condition for business competitiveness and the viability of urban life. Through the commission, solution-oriented dialogues and public-private collaborations will convene to address the most pressing urban challenges through nature, showing that it is socially desirable, financially viable and environmentally urgent to deliver nature-positive cities
Panelists (from left to right): Jennifer Schenker, Journalist at The Innovator (moderator); Yoo Jeong-Bok, Mayor of South Korea’s Incheon Metropolitan City; Kotchakorn Voraakhom, CEO of Landprocess, Founder of Porous City Network and Chairwoman of Climate Change Working Group at the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA World); Mikolaj Sekutowicz, Vice President of Therme Group; and Xuemei Bai, Distinguished Professor for Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University.
© Copyright: World Economic Forum/Benedikt von Loebel
Underpinning Impact One’s outlook on urban transformation is the idea that environmental compensation of the development of any infrastructure must be taken into consideration during every phase of its conception. Mikolaj Sekutowicz explained:
“No city can be nature-positive, it’s not possible from an arithmetic perspective. We need to implement a very simple rule: 100% + X. That means, we need to compensate the entire investment with nature-based solutions and submit it with the building permit, because then it implements a system where we can make sure that the new activity is net-positive. It needs to be net-positive, because net-zero will not work.”
– Mikolaj Sekutowicz, CEO of Impact One
Impact One works towards incorporating nature-based solutions and advocates for full lifecycle environmental impact assessments to assure the net-positive environmental and climate impact of all urban infrastructure. To enhance wellbeing for all, such a compensation model is an inextricable part of the investment process to implement ecosystem restoration practices.
Annual meeting of new-champions 2023
Impact One Presents Naturepositive Interventions For Cities At Wef’s Annual Meeting Of The New Champions
CEO of Impact One, Mikolaj Sekutowicz, presents nature-positive interventions for cities at the convening that drew together 1,500 global leaders from business, government, civil society and international organisations, as well as innovators and academics.
Related Articles
WEF Nature-Positive Cities Initiative Celebrates its Inaugural Year
The World Economic Forum’s Global Commission for Nature-Positive Cities, of which Impact One is a
Impact One attends Second Davos Baukultur Alliance Annual Meeting
After signing the Davos Baukultur Alliance in June 2023, Impact One returns to the Annual
Cultivating nature, cooling cities: An urban future grown to last
The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation publishes a new article co-authored by Mikolaj
WEF Nature-Positive Cities Initiative Releases Inaugural Report
The World Economic Forum’s Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities, of which Impact One is a
Building the Urban Future
From 28-29 April 2024, the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development
Impact One partners with AxessImpact
Through the partnership with AxessImpact, Impact One expands on its mission to establish sustainable business