Responsible, effective leadership is never easy. But the challenges facing today’s leaders are of a different order than generations past. Crises no longer present themselves in isolation, but as part of an interconnected and hugely complex web of crises.

As well as lacking clear pathways to a sustainable future, leaders face a barrage of market, political and media pressures, together with high geopolitical and social instability and exponential tech-driven change.

There will be no quick or easy fixes. This report considers this background and explores the tough and courageous decisions needed from leaders to inspire and empower action at scale.

The report draws on the dominant themes that emerged from the discussions, in particular the need for effective leadership:

• leadership with the moral courage and integrity to tell the truth about the nature of the challenges that societies face;
• with a commitment to building alliances and harnessing the transformative power of tech and human ingenuity finding ways to co-exist on a finite planet; and
• Critically – for those in positions of power internationally to use their positions to inform, empower and enable action at scale right across societies.