A Comprehensive Discussion with Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel on Actionable Strategies for a Sustainable Future 

The results of our 2024 “Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow” report show that both the leaders of tomorrow and today agree that the scarcity and depletion of natural resources is one of the greatest and most pressing challenges faced by humanity globally. Does this consensus between the generations surprise you? 

No, it doesn’t surprise me at all. You’d have to be blind not to see what the world will be like tomorrow if we don’t make the right decisions today. But the sense of urgency and relevance of the actions that follow from that knowledge is clearly different across generations. In the past, many leadership decisions were made “for the next generation.” The leaders of tomorrow know that their generation is at stake, that their lives are directly and personally affected. They understand that time is running out.   

The senior executives in our study are much more convinced that technological progress will always find ways to overcome Earth’s limited natural resources. How do you explain that the Leaders of Tomorrow believe less in the ability of technological progress to solve these problems?  

This narrative of feasibility is related to “techno-solutionism”: the belief that technology will solve every problem we have. One of its most extreme variants is “effective accelerationism,” which is currently making the rounds in Silicon Valley. This movement believes that the universe itself is an optimization process, that the wheel of progress is always turning in one direction, and that going backwards is not an option. The Leaders of Tomorrow know it’s not that simple. They have not been socialized purely on the feasibility mania surrounding new technologies, but have also realized that we will not be able to solve problems with technology alone.  

To what extent do you think artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies can still help solve global challenges such as the scarcity of natural resources? 

Of course they can help! I am also a techno-optimist, but people really do need to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground. First, AI can help us get a clearer picture of how the climate and its evolution are really doing, where the icebergs are melting and at what rate, and how deforestation is destroying the rainforests. It can finally give companies a true view of their carbon footprint and help balance how we consume with smart grids. In the longer term, it can also be used as a tool for developing an integrated mobility system that reduces vehicle idling and waiting times to zero. Now comes the big but: This technology also consumes a lot of energy—for example, creating an AI image consumes as much energy as fully charging a smartphone battery. Training a language model generates the equivalent of five gasoline-driven cars’ worth of CO₂ emissions over their lifetime, including their manufacturing. The entire AI industry accounts for about two percent of global CO₂ emissions. That’s about the same as the airline industry. We can’t just solve the problem with technology—we also have to solve it for the technology industry. 

Who do you think has the most leverage to make a difference and solve the problem of the scarcity of natural resources, and why? Businesses, consumers, politicians?  

We can only master the challenge together. But businesses have to set the tone and set an entirely new course. I’ll give you an example: Ever since the launch of the iPhone 13, Apple has done away with the plastic packaging around the box, saving the company 600 metric tons of plastic alone. Even seemingly small steps can have an enormous impact. I personally decided to get rid of my car years ago. There are so many ways you can make a difference. 

What barriers exist to (these) potential solutions? And how can we overcome them? 

By doing away with old ways of thinking and leadership principles: Growth alone will not guide us to a sustainable future. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said that there is no limit to the amount of computing power we can use. But in my opinion, that kind of thinking will not help us be good stewards of resources. Nobody can win a global GPU war. But the geopolitical realities don’t make it easy. The return of ruthless nationalism is a major obstacle to reaching a global understanding on common sustainability goals.  

What other major challenges do you see business leaders facing in the years to come that will require a collective effort across generations to find a solution? 

The ongoing evolution of artificial intelligence poses a major algorithmic challenge to humankind. It is upon us to decide what the human-machine age will look like and what role we will play in it. People need to understand very quickly that AI is a general purpose technology that will leave no stone unturned in our economy, our society, and our lives. If we get it right, we have a chance to enter a new civilization of human-machine cooperation. If we get it wrong, we probably deserve to end up as AI’s lapdogs. 

About: Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel 

Miriam Meckel, PhD, a communication and technology expert, became Germany’s youngest professor and first female editor-in-chief of the business magazine WirtschaftsWoche. Since 2005, she has been Director at the Institute for Media and Communication Management at the University of St. Gallen and co-founded as well as chairs ada Learning GmbH, promoting innovation and organizational change. For her research, she’s received numerous awards and authored various impactful books and articles.