DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — The UAE has a unique place in the world and that’s the reason we have chosen Dubai for the TIME 100 Impact Awards, according to Marc Benioff, Co-founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce and owner of TIME magazine.
Speaking exclusively to TRENDS at Davos earlier this year, Marc expressed his excitement for Dubai being chosen to present the TIME 100 list. “We recently chose Singapore, and we are very particular about the cities and countries, the Impact Awards recognize the growing influence and pre-eminence of the UAE as a country which has an incredible position in the world and we feel proud to bring our TIME brand to the country.”
On Davos 2023, Marc said that it is really important that the world has come together on the global platform such as Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to discuss global problems and solutions. He seemed particularly inclined toward green initiatives and the climate change discussions at Davos.
All industries and businesses in all the regions of the world should focus on net zero emissions, nature positivity, net zero business and eventually a net zero world, he said, adding: “We need stronger commitment from all.”
Speaking about his One Trillion Tree initiative, Marc said: “we need to expedite the One Trillion Tree initiative to sequester the carbon in the atmosphere. We have 875 billion more trees to plant to offset the 200 giga tons of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere and I am really optimistic that the United States for the first time in its recent infrastructure and inflation bills incorporated planting of trees as a key element.”
With new satellite carbon mapping technology, it is fairly easy to identify regions that have higher carbon emissions and thus green initiatives could be targeted for higher impact, he said.
In the next few years, we need an ecopreneur revolution and there has to be an increased focus on new green technologies, especially improving the next generation battery technology, he said. “We need to commit to our goal of 50 per cent clean energy by 2030.
If I can describe in one word the climate change urgency, it would be – now.” When asked about the global economy in 2023, the CEO of Salesforce said: “In terms of economy everything will be much better than anticipated.”