Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015

Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015Global Agenda Councils WelcomeOutlook on the Global Agenda 2015 | 02 The nature of the challenges we face today is increasingly complex. In the 12 months since we launched last year’s Outlook on the Global Agenda, the world has continued to undergo a series of transformational shifts.While the global financial crisis and its after-effects appear to have subsided, the magnitude of other significant global issues continues to increase in scale and scope, such as jobless growth and income inequality. Particularly in developing economies, periods of strong growth have helped close the wealth gap between countries, but severe imbalances persist. In the realm of international politics, we have seen terrorist forces – often appearing without warning – continue to impede progress, threatening stability, peace and prosperity. Innovations in technology are accelerating. Our natural environment remains seriously threatened. In short, it is increasingly difficult to effectively design policy and drive coherent decision-making. Our fast-moving, interconnected world requires policy-makers to respond quickly to global challenges and adopt an integrated approach when choosing solutions.It is this context of complexity and constant change that led the World Economic Forum to create the Network of Global Agenda Councils in 2008. Today’s challenges, which are global in scope, heavily interlinked in nature and critical in urgency, require a system by which we can promote greater understanding and stronger collaboration.Our 80 Global Agenda Councils, coupled with six Meta-Councils on wider, more encompassing issues, are each formed from a collection of experts from around the world. These experts are renowned not only for their thought leadership, but also for their desire to find solutions that will improve the state of the world.The Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015 reflects the thought leadership of the world’s foremost intelligence WelcomeKlaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forumnetwork – a community of over 1,500 global experts. This report offers a comprehensive overview of the world today, as well as an analysis of how these experts expect it to develop in the coming 12-18 months. It also outlines the nature of global trends, regional challenges, global leadership and governance, as well as the emerging issues that should be on the agendas of global leaders. In the spirit of the Forum, we have offered solutions to these issues that have been developed by members of the Global Agenda Councils.The Outlook 2015 will be launched on the occasion of the Summit on the Global Agenda, which brings together the community of Global Agenda Councils and is held in Dubai from 9-11 November 2014 in partnership with the Government of the United Arab Emirates. We hope that this year’s Outlook provides valuable insights to better understand the important global issues of our time in support of our common efforts to improve the state of the world WelcomeIntroductionThis fourth edition of the Outlook on the Global Agenda features the insights of the Network of Global Agenda Councils, the world’s foremost community of thought leaders. It is informed by data from our Survey on the Global Agenda, which polled an extensive sample of Council Members and also incorporates the views of the next generation, the Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers. The report features an analysis of the Top 10 trends which will preoccupy our experts for the next 12-18 months as well as the key challenges facing the world’s regions, an overview of global leadership and governance, and the emerging issues that will define our future.This year, the global agenda is shaped by a much more strained global geopolitical situation, which is characterized by a new level of volatility and complexity as events in East Asia, Ukraine and the Middle East have shown. Last year’s number one trend – Rising Societal Tensions in the Middle East and North Africa – rose to prominence across Gaza, Iraq and Syria to such an extent that we explore it in depth in our Regional challenges chapter. For the first time since the launch of the report in 2010 we also see the growing importance of health in the economy making it to the Top 10 trends, a topic which we explore in more detail in the health trend chapter, with a special focus on the current Ebola crisis.However, topping the list of concerns are economic woes, especially the rise of income inequality, which has made it to the number one trend after it first emerged as the most underestimated issue in our 2011 edition, as well as the risk of a persistent jobless growth. These two socio-economic trends are creating a dangerous cycle: Stagnant wages and the lack of employment are contributing to rising inequality, as well as holding back consumer spending and therefore growth in advanced economies. And while we are seeing a much better integration of the econom