The World in 2030: Looking Back Ten Years from Now

Looking back from 2030 over the previous 10 years shows that many challenges have only partially been addressed. Much of the decade countries all over the world were struggling to get back on their feet following a global pandemic that wiped out many gains in jobs, earnings, and living standards painfully created previously. Public institutions have remained more important than ever but have been weakened by slow growth, faltering demographics, climate change, and other challenges. At the same time, opportunities from new technologies have only slowly benefited a larger part of the (working) population. New initiatives stemming from civil society and the private sector are only slowly emerging but have shown first signs of making a bigger impact by 2030. Building on a new policy consensus that puts sustainability and resilient societies rather than short-term profits at the center of collective action, signs of optimism are finally re-emerging gradually.