Jerome Glenn addresses the 15 Global Challenges to create a better future. Finance, the environment and society must be improved with technology.
Source: www.bbvaopenmind.com
World population is growing; food, water, education, housing, and medical care must grow apace.Fresh water is becoming scarce in localized areas of the world.The gap in living standards between the rich and poor promises to become more extreme and divisive.The threat of new and re-emerging diseases and immune micro-organisms is growing.Capacity to decide is diminishing (as issues become more global and complex under conditions of increasing uncertainty and risk).Terrorism is increasingly destructive, proliferating, and difficult to prevent.Population growth and economic growth are interacting adversely with environmental quality and natural resources.The status of women is changing.Religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts are increasingly severe.Information technology offers both promise and peril.Organized crime groups are becoming sophisticated global enterprises.Economic growth is bringing both promising and threatening consequences.Nuclear power plants around the world are aging.The HIV epidemic will continue to spread.Work, unemployment, leisure, and underemployment are changing.
Global opportunities identified in 1997–1998:
Achieving sustainable developmentIncreasing the acceptance of global long-term perspectives in policymakingExpanding the potential for scientific and technological breakthroughsTransforming authoritarian regimes to democraciesEncouraging diversity and shared ethical valuesReducing the rate of population growthEvolving strategies for world peace and securityDeveloping alternative sources of energyGlobalizing the convergence of information and communications technologies (ICT)Increasing advances in biotechnologyEncouraging economic development through ethical market economiesIncreasing the economic autonomy of women and other groupsPromoting inquiry into new and sometimes counter-intuitive ideasPursuing promising space projectsImproving institutions
15 global challenges in 2012
How can sustainable development be achieved for all while addressing global climate change?How can everyone have sufficient clean water without conflict?How can population growth and resources be brought into balance?How can genuine democracy emerge from authoritarian regimes?How can policymaking be made more sensitive to global long-term perspectives?How can the global convergence of ICT work for everyone?How can ethical market economies be encouraged to help reduce the gap between rich and poor?How can the threat of new and re-emerging diseases and immune micro-organisms be reduced?How can the capacity to decide be improved as the nature of work and institutions changes?How can shared values and new security strategies reduce ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and the use of weapons of mass destruction?How can the changing status of women help improve the human condition?How can transnational organized crime networks be stopped from becoming more powerful and sophisticated global enterprises?How can growing energy demands be met safely and efficiently?How can scientific and technological breakthroughs be accelerated to improve the human condition?How can ethical considerations become more routinely incorporated into global decisions?
Akira Morikawa 