WEF: Political, Corporate Leaders Must Prioritise ‘Meaningful Cooperation’ with Faith Actors

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has urged political and corporate leaders in the world not to forget that 85 per cent of the world’s population identifies with a certain belief system, declaring that “meaningful cooperation with faith actors at a time of deepening polarisation and distrust in societies” must be prioritised.

The “Faith in Action” insight report was included in this year’s WEF annual conference in Davos, Switzerland as a reflection on how religion and spirituality can make a difference in finding solutions to the world’s “polycrisis”.

“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”, said the report.

According to it, political and corporate leaders must not forget that 85 per cent of the world’s population identifies with a certain belief system, and therefore “meaningful cooperation with faith actors at a time of deepening polarisation and distrust in societies” must be prioritised.

It stressed that global leaders cannot afford to ignore the impact of religion and spirituality

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) plays a key role in preparing the report. One of the four co-authors, Chris Elisara, co-Director of the WEA’s Sustainability Centre, in Bonn, Germany, drafted five of the eight study cases of enterprises around the world led by “business leaders who are applying their faith fluency to explore innovative partnerships with faith actors”.

In the WEF report, the complexities of such partnerships and the “applicable lessons” were analysed.

Presenting the report,  Elisara said: “Faith organisations, including many evangelical ones, are doing many innovative projects with businesses that are making a difference. We hope that the case studies chosen will provide insights and inspiration enabling business leaders and faith-based organisations to achieve greater impact.”

The report also includes “guiding questions” to help businesses interact with faith actors.

The World Economic Forum said it is in touch with around 100 faith groups and religion experts to have a “community of dialogue”.

The WEF annual meetings in Davos  have often been surrounded by criticisms of those who say politicians and large corporations gathering in the Swiss alpine region are not making a difference in the life of real people.

For some, the WEF’s messages are very much aligned with a liberal-progressive agenda.

Past themes addressed in Davos such as the ‘Great Reset’ had been portrayed by critics as a way of forcing unwanted lifestyle changes on the population.

The approach of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) expressed in the past was to use such opportunities to participate in global discussions platforms hoping to provide a positive faith-based influence.

WEA’s Secretary General, Thomas Schirrmacher, a German, said his hope was “to encourage and promote more partnerships between the business sector and evangelical organisations that can have an impact on global crises.

“Evangelicals understand deeply that ethically driven business can, and in fact does, contribute much good to society.”