Developing corporate strategy in an unstable world with CDP

At last week's 2026 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, the language of cooperation and resilience may have been everywhere, but the world seems to feel more fragmented, more uncertain and more politically charged than ever.

In this episode, Felicia Jackson is joined by Sherry Madera, chief executive of CDP, to unpack what Davos revealed about the shifting risk landscape,  and what businesses are actually doing about it.

Drawing on CDP’s latest Corporate Health Check of 10,000 companies, the conversation explores why the focus is moving away from ambition and targets toward preparedness and resilience. Only a small number of companies are genuinely ready for physical climate risk, transition risk, water stress and nature loss and those that are prepared are quietly outperforming.

Felicia and Sherry discuss why waiting for political clarity is no longer a neutral choice, how insurers, lenders and investors are already pricing physical risk, why ESG language is fading while resilience and adaptation rise, and how AI has unexpectedly pushed water to the centre of boardroom decision-making.

This episode is about risk, resilience, and what it really takes to build long-term value in a fractured world — when the physics keeps moving, whether politics agrees or not.

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