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Trust in western democracies is on the rise due to their robust response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a special geopolitical report of Edelman’s Trust Barometer released today.
The US and UK showed the largest trust gains (six percent) since January. Germany was up four percent and France advanced two percent in the poll of 14,000 people.
China showed the biggest drop in trust (three percent) among the 14 nations polled. Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the only other decliners. They each dipped one percent.
The Barometer found solid trust gains of 31 points for companies that ended operations in Russia due to the invasion.
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Those maintaining businesses there risk a trust loss of 38 points. Almost half (47 percent) of respondents have started to buy or stopped buying a brand due to a company’s response to Ukraine.
Almost six in ten (59 percent) of respondents want CEOs to add geopolitical responsibilities to the corporate agenda.
Nearly all respondents (95 percent) say they want companies to take actions in response to an unprovoked invasion.
CEOs also should proactively curtail business activities in countries that commit human rights abuses rather than wait for governments to impose sanctions (64 percent).
CEOs should exit countries that threaten our national security (62 percent).
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