From AI to Asia’s economic boom, the world is changing fast. The Global Business Journalism program's top five global business trends of 2026 reveal where opportunity, innovation and disruption meet. At GBJ — a partnership among Tsinghue University, Bloomberg News and the International Center for Journalists — we help future journalists and storytellers decode these shifts through data, insight and global perspective. Let us know what you think of our choice of trends.

When the term ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) debuted in the U.N.-sponsored “Who Cares Wins” report, it wasn’t virtue signaling. It was a warning: Ignoring climate change, social issues, or corporate governance questions risks undermining long-term company value. This article is your reporter’s guide to that fault line: where ESG came from; how it has been weaponized politically in the Trump administration, and why most of the world sees it as essential that it no