Mastering Sustainability Requires Technology, Finance, and the Powers of Homo Deus

Abstract

This final chapter will show that we have no option but to master sustainability by deploying technology and finance effectively. The shift from physical to digital is on its way, and technology is accelerating manufacturing from global to local, dematerialisation, and sharing towards a circular economy. Digital is a prerequisite to green electrification, but we still have a long way to go. Finance powers innovation, but this also transforms finance. Financial technologies are used to automate investments, insurance, trading, banking services, and risk management. Finance is going digital, and distributed ledger technologies will transform financial markets. Greenwashing is likely to diminish due to increased transparency (supported by technology) and mandatory ESG reporting, although geopolitical ESG risk showed its ugly face in the war against Ukraine. It is time to rethink how markets integrate ESG towards a healthy planet and a prosocial society that makes our children proud.