Faith to confront society's biggest challenges: A report from the World Economic Forum
“Eighty-five per cent (85%) of the world’s population adhere to a religious or spiritual tradition - with significant impact on how they define their values and how they participate in their communities, workplaces and societies. For most of the world today, religion and spirituality continue to inform what a good life is and how to best think about the challenges faced by families, nations and the world. For global leaders, underestimating the ongoing influence and role of religion in society can lead to missed opportunities for greater positive impact in multi-faith societies and significant oversights in understanding how religion and spirituality interact in the complex societal challenges happening today.”
In January, the World Economic Forum released a report, Faith in Action: Religion and Spirituality in the Polycrisis, arguing for the relevance of religion and spirituality in a time of complex, intersecting, global social challenges. It features several examples of collaboration between business and faith-based organizations to address some of these challenges, as well as important insights and lessons for faith, business, and other leaders. It is an invitation to forge more cross-sector collaborations that leverage the wisdom and assets of faith to drive impact at scale.
For those in the U.S. and other Western countries, the report offers some important global context that tempers the prevalent narrative of religion in decline. Globally, "most major religious groups are expected to grow by 2050." In Brazil, where evangelical Christianity has taken root, a new church has opened almost every hour over the past decade. At the same time, population growth in certain countries has meant that Islam is growing faster than any other major religion, such that the number of Muslims globally will nearly match that of Christians by 2050.
The report notes the fact that media attention focused on the rise of the nones, the religiously unaffiliated, in Western countries, has "[led] many global leaders to underestimate the importance of religion and spirituality in the modern world." It suggests that such underestimation leads to leaders missing opportunities to tap the role of religion and spirituality in helping drive positive impact.
Pointing to examples of multi-faith cooperation in the areas of climate, the COVID-19 crisis, artificial intelligence, and others, the report highlights the significance of faith actors articulating shared values related to global social challenges, particularly given that polarization and "a widening gap in shared values and common interests" are deepening economic, geopolitical, and other risks across the world. It also credits faith-based investors with pioneering socially responsible investing as a way to address important social challenges. Faith-based funds globally hold $5 trillion in net assets, a significant lever for shaping capital flows.
The report discusses three factors of religious influence - community, creed, and citizenship - that it advises business and other leaders to heed and engage. It also advises the faith sector to think and innovate beyond the ways it has historically engaged on social issues:
“[F]aith actors and leaders from faith communities will also need to understand and explore how they may scale, innovate and go deeper through business and multistakeholder partnerships. Faith has traditionally worked with governments, institutions and NGOs in key areas of service delivery such as healthcare, humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding and education; however, amid record levels of public debt, governments are effectively tapped out and will need to increasingly rely on the private sector to scale ongoing work and address systemic challenges. Faith actors will need to explore new types of partnerships and develop new competencies for engagement.”
Highlighting relevant theological principles from numerous global religions, the report discusses four specific areas of environmental care, health, inclusive communities and resilient cities, and technology governance. Case studies of specific business-faith collaborations in these areas offer inspiration and insights to guide others in forging similar efforts.
The world faces a concerning polycrisis, where numerous existential problems - climate change, isolation and polarization, growing distrust across society, the rise of authoritarianism, and more - are intersecting to create great risk for society. It is essential that faith actors mobilize their vast assets - financial capital, human capital, but also their values-based frameworks that uplift compassion, care, dignity, community, justice, peace, environmental stewardship, and more - to help drive transformative progress. It is equally important that business and political leaders see faith actors as essential allies in innovating solutions.
The WEF report offers fodder for imagination and guidance for action to think big and collaborate toward positive impact. We recommend taking the time to read the full report here.
Image by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash