The global consumption of energy and resources has risen almost constantly over the past decades. The unchecked growth of the world's population, the economic catching-up process of the emerging and developing countries, but also globalisation with its growing need for mobility speak in favour of this trend continuing. Contrary to this, there is a growing awareness of the need to counter the consequences of the increasing scarcity of resources and the damage to the climate and the environment resulting from their increased use. Despite the conclusion of the Paris climate agreement, economic growth and environmental concerns have so far only been partially reconciled. Combining economic growth with ecological goals remains one of the greatest challenges of our time. The means by which this goal can be achieved are highly controversial at the international level. The rapidly growing emerging countries show little willingness to endanger their hitherto successful growth strategies by changing course - China alone shows a change in thinking. But the response of the industrialized countries is also divided, especially with respect to the future positioning of the energy sector. This has increasing consequences for multinational organisations when choosing locations.
This is the main focus area of the BDO International Business Compass (IBC) 2018, and we will analyse the various factors in detail.