Al Gore, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and former Vice President of the United States, will be the keynote speaker at the 12 ABSL Summit 2022 - Facing a Challenging Future. As one of the world’s most well-known environmentalists, Vice President Gore will talk about issues connected with climate crisis as well as ESG being a value driver for business in these times of change. The organizer of the summit, which is to be held between May 30^th and June 1^st, 2022, in Katowice, is the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL). 

The ABSL Summit, one of the most important business events in Central and Eastern Europe, looks at global trends and their impact on economic and social development. Each year, the ABSL Summit attracts over 1000 business leaders from all over the world as well as public sector representatives, economists, trendsetters, academics, and opinion-forming media.

The keynote speaker at ABSL Summit 2022 will be Al Gore, former Vice President of the USA, one of the world’s most well-known global environmentalists, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in "informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change." During the ABSL Summit, in a speech entitled, The case for optimism on the Climate Crisis, Al Gore will discuss key issues brought about by climate change and how to combat them. He will also present his outlook on the increasing importance of ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) models and procedures, both for businesses and modern economies in these times of change.

The main theme of this year’s summit will be the global challenges that we are currently facing, as well as their consequences and outcomes. The summit will also focus on how to build new models of leadership and improve resilience as well as looking at the need to introduce rules and regulations to ensure the development of sustainable talent economies. The subjects to be discussed at the ABSL Summit 2022 will encompass three areas: (i) leadership in times of crisis, (ii) data and insights as well as disinformation in the shape of phenomena that affect business decisions, and (iii) the changing socio-economic environment and the need for transparent regulations.

Janusz Dziurzyński, President of ABSL emphasizes that: We are proud that Vice President Al Gore will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming ABSL Summit. The goal of each ABSL summit has always been to identify and address the most important questions for the business services sector – one of the strongest and most important industries in Poland, which currently employs over 355,000 people. Now, the challenges such as social and political unrest, demographic shifts, legal uncertainty, and climate change more than ever require open, proactive responses and integrated solutions to build resilient and sustainable businesses.

The 12^th edition of the ABSL Summit will be hosted by the city of Katowice, in the NOSPR concert hall.

Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice, notes: In Katowice, we will once again be able to discuss the future. I am also glad that I will have the opportunity to listen to the speech of Al Gore, who has already visited Katowice when the city hosted COP 24. The topics that will be discussed this time are climate protection and sustainable economic development. It is a perfect introduction to the 11th session of the World City Forum, which will be hosted in Katowice in June of this year. The challenges of the future include maintaining a stable economy that is resistant to global political crises, as well as stable development in which a high level of education is a key factor. Katowice aspires to join this global trend. During the ABSL Summit, we would like to show the potential of the Metropolis GZM in the context of the rapid growth of the business services sector in the city. The intellectual potential of the region was confirmed with Katowice being awarded European City of Science in 2024.