The world in 2030: Global warming, power shift and WMDs

GLOBAL WARMING, depletion of resources and asymmetric warfare will be the most pressing issues, which the world is likely to face in the next 20 years.

The Young Global Report, a survey conducted by World Economic Forum of young leaders throughout the world says that the political and economic power will shift to Asia in the next two decades.

A majority of the respondents in the survey feel that China will lead the world by 2030, followed by the United States, India and Russia respectively.

A large number of respondents in the survey believe that nation states will lose power until 2030, but they will remain the most influential actors in addressing key global challenges.

The Young Global Leaders also visualised that multi national companies and individuals will gain power in the next two decades.

The year 2030 will mark the second power shift in the world, with China expected to be the leading nation state in 2030, followed by the United States, India, Russia and Germany.

Two key European countries, France and United Kingdom will lose power significantly, according to the young leaders, who also believed that non-state actors could use weapons of mass destruction by 2030.

Political and economic changes are being signaled by various events, says the survey, which includes China buying into Blackstone, the increase in votes supporting extremist parties in Europe, fewer women wanting to work full time, the concentration of individual wealth and the rapid rise of independent media in developing countries.

These findings are part of the ‘Future Mapping for the Global Agenda’ study that draws a global picture of 2030 by mapping key trends, weak signals and their interrelationships, for a better understanding of how they will influence the global, regional and industrial agendas.

“We can start to comprehend and shape the future only by understanding the interconnection and interdependencies between the different challenges and key drivers influencing the global agenda,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“Future Mapping for the Global Agenda illustrates the pitfalls of prognosticating the future, but as we look across a range of domains - health, technology, education, finance, environment - there do seem to be a few conclusions to safely draw,”said YGL Paul Meyer, chairman and president of Voxiva.