A new chapter: Hannah Pathak on leading Forum for the Future in 2025

We’re only a few weeks into 2025 but already there’s a hallmark of shifting sands, rapidly changing context and volatility. As I take the helm as CEO of Forum for the Future, I’m reflecting on our role in the world, alongside a growing movement of likeminded changemakers, in a time of flux and unpredictability.  

Founded 29 years ago to champion sustainability, Forum has evolved its mission to accelerate the shift toward a just and regenerative future through collaboration across sectors. 

Three critical transitions dominate our focus: food, energy, and business purpose. While renewable energy momentum builds globally, it faces headwinds from political forces, particularly in the US. Meanwhile, Nobel laureates urgently call for "moonshot" technologies to prevent a looming hunger crisis, and the EU sustainability reporting undergoes complex regulatory changes, creating uncertainty for businesses. 

In this volatile landscape, we emphasise two key principles: foresight and bravery. Through strategic futures and courage through collaboration, we help organisations navigate these challenges. Whether working with individual partners or convening systemic collaborations, our original mission of empowering changemakers remains more vital than ever in today's turbulent times. 

Are you starting 2025 with a clear vision for your sustainability strategy?

Is it backed up with a comprehensive implementation plan and confidence that you’ll be able to deliver? 

Whether you are just starting out on your journey to driving transformational change or are a sector leader in need of some focused expertise, Forum can help. We can work with you to co-create future-fit strategies, support implementation, advise on specific issues, and convene various stakeholders to work collaboratively. Afterall, our challenges are bigger than any one of us working alone. 

Making circularity in fashion more seamless

The fashion industry is investing millions in technological solutions to tackle its environmental impact, yet circularity remains out of reach. Why? 

Forum’s latest report, Reconfiguring Value Chains: Enabling Systemic Circularity in Fashion, dives deep into the barriers holding back innovation and proposes systemic solutions to unlock true circularity. 

From 2023-2024, we worked with leading brands, retailers, suppliers, and manufacturers to: 

• Uncover systemic factors that enable or hinder circular innovation. 

• Develop non-technical interventions to unlock key barriers. 

• Model collaborative approaches for tackling complex challenges.

Responsible Renewable Energy Summit 2025: People-centric business models for RE 

India stands at a pivotal moment in its clean energy journey. As solar and wind projects expand, the focus is shifting from capacity to impact. How can renewable energy uplift communities, protect ecosystems, and ensure fair benefits for all? 

This year’s Responsible Renewable Energy Summit, hosted by the Responsible Energy Initiative (REI) India, will be on 25 February and invites leaders from across sectors to rethink energy as a tool for empowerment. The question is no longer just about gigawatts — it’s about the lives transformed, communities strengthened, and ecosystems restored.

Designing for resilience and regenerative outcomes in value chains 

Join the Food x Fibre Coalition
 
Coffee, cocoa and cotton value chains share many complex challenges, but inter-sector dialogue and collaboration to tackle them has been lacking.

The Food x Fibre Coalition, currently in development, responds to a growing desire from businesses across these soft commodities to address discontinuity of supply, build resilience, and improve profitability, through pre-competitive collaboration and information-sharing.

Forum will be submitting a proposal for a grant from EIT Food to work across critical workstreams including environmental, financial/business models, and data, to co-design solutions capable of improving social justice and ecosystem outcomes.

We are seeking pioneering businesses who share this ambition to join us by joining the Coalition as a supporting or founding partner. Both pledges will benefit from the outcomes of the Coalition, with the founding partner taking a more active role in shaping those outcomes.

As a new US president takes office, we must strengthen our resolve to realise an equitable and inclusive future for all

Through our American Climate Futures (ACF) programme, Senior Programs Advisor Christina Daniels-Freeman highlights how Forum is supporting businesses to embed equity and justice into their climate strategies.

ACF is launching a working group to foster collaboration and peer learning, bringing together climate justice champions, community leaders, and others to address systemic barriers. Get in touch to join and accelerate our transition to a just and regenerative future.

The power of philanthropy, flexible funding and partnerships built on trust 

Reflecting on the ambition for greater organisational impact in her new role as Forum's Chief Acceleration Officer, Dr Sally Uren explores the power of philanthropy in a rapidly changing global landscape.

Inspired by Forum’s relationship with People's Postcode Lottery, Sally identifies the critical factors that make flexible funding so important for those who remain committed to securing thriving futures for people and planet. 

Transformational change is not only possible but already happening

From now to November 2025, Forum’s Future of Sustainability campaign, Reimagining the Way the World Works, will showcase 30 groundbreaking social and climate initiatives - or 'Bright Spots' - by COP30.

In partnership with The Earthshot Prize, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Trane Technologies, we’re celebrating the hope these initiatives are giving a sustainability movement struggling with climate and social anxieties. We’re exploring what they teach us about how transformational change happens. And crucially, we’re considering what it all means for transitions in how and why businesses operate, and in how we produce and consume food and energy. 

Why not join us on a journey to reimagine the way the world works?

Partnering with us on the campaign 

 
Are you keen to get involved in and support Forum’s flagship campaign, the Future of Sustainability? 
 
By becoming a partner, you can make a real impact at a time when the world needs positive, practical ideas for a better future. Regardless of whether you represent a business or an individual passionate about the future of our planet, we offer a variety of partnership options starting from £1,000 to suit your interests. Any commitments made before 14 February could go even further through The Big Give Green Match Fund programme – effectively doubling the value of your donation to this campaign.

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