“The planet is changing and reaching its geopolitical limits,” explained Virginie Raisson. "That is to say, we are knowingly moving into dangerous territory. Scientists unanimously agree that human activity is the root cause of global warming, declining biodiversity and the pollution of natural resources such as the biosphere." In other words, there is a very real threat to our current living conditions, and we are gradually heading towards a point of no return. Virginie Raisson argued that these developments will create new risks for companies, ranging from physical risks, due to uncontrollable natural disasters, to financial risks linked to the companies’ environmental impact. There may also be legal and reputational risks, especially when it comes to companies’ compliance with international regulations, or even investment risks, which, for example, dissuade certain investors from investing in companies that are active in the fossil fuel sector.

Virginie Raisson also made another interesting point: “Disagreement between partners is hindering our climate objectives,” she remarked. “As things stand, we are heading towards a global temperature rise of 3.2 °C by the end of the century, with a rise of 4 °C in Switzerland. Scientifically speaking, this is a worst-case scenario, especially since the international bodies that exist today have proven their inability to combat climate change.” According to the analyst, we are faced with a cruel paradox. While free-market societies have achieved progress by taming the natural world since the Industrial Revolution, firmly believing that the more they produced, the less conflict there would be, we now see that globalisation has led to increased competition, perfectly illustrated by the Covid crisis, and to environmental protectionism, which hinders the implementation of key new standards.

Therefore, the very ideology that was meant to get rid of conflict actually creates tensions, especially between countries of the Global South and developed economies. These tensions were highlighted by the issues surrounding the ‘loss and damage’ climate change fund for vulnerable countries, despite the fact that the fund is considered to be the biggest success of COP 27, which was held in Egypt in 2022. The problem is that not all countries have the same understanding of climate change. Some countries, such as China, are clearly attempting to profit from it, enjoying the requisite resources, essential technological knowledge and the ability to attract investors. This development is even more concerning as the natural resources required by post-industrial economies, such as rare earth elements, are concentrated in three or four countries, including China, unlike oil and gas. Virginie Raisson also warned that all civilisations based on dominating the natural world, such as the Maya, the Vikings or the Romans, eventually collapsed. “There’s no negotiating with nature,” she concluded. "And we are all fully aware of that...”