Context: Working Together to Create A Better Future

Foreword: My Life, Juma Xipaia, Brazil

Message from the Advisory Council

An interconnected web of geopolitical, environmental, technological, and social risks is driving global instability. At its core, the polycrisis reflects the transition from the Industrial to the Information Age, a shift reshaping power structures and planetary boundaries alike.

Traditional institutions are proving inadequate to manage the necessary transition, as the decline of the liberal order and waning U.S. influence reshape global power dynamics. Avoiding systemic collapse will require deliberate management of the transition through development, stronger technology governance, institutional reform, and new security frameworks.

The SDGs and Paris Agreement set ambitious goals for peace, prosperity, and climate stability, but progress is faltering. Few SDG targets are on track, climate momentum has slowed, and barriers such as weak coordination, limited finance, and inequality persist. With 2030 approaching and global warming already at 1.55°C, a radical rethink of sustainable development and climate action is essential.

Global spending on sustainable development falls far short of the US$17–19 trillion needed annually, with the energy transition costing US$152 trillion by 2050. Though capital exists, financial flows are misaligned, and concessional funding is minimal. Closing the gap requires turning development needs into commercial opportunities, engaging private capital, and building local capacities to create new markets.

Financing the SDGs and climate goals requires investing now in the transition, across sustainable energy, infrastructure, and resilience, and in next-generation solutions. The opportunity lies in scalable innovations that generate returns if competitively delivered. With supportive policies and fair regulation, governments can steer private capital toward sustainable solutions that drive both growth and impact.

The benefits of a global Big Bang are clear, but the prerequisites are hard to achieve. Without coordination, nations may compete for capital by lowering standards, undermining stability and equity. What is needed is a shared governance compact to ensure the Big Bang lifts the world as a whole rather than deepening divides.

This transition is dismantling old power structures, and success lies in managing it by unlocking human ingenuity for progress. That demands vision and the mobilization of solutions, technology, capital, and governance. Done right, it can spark a renaissance delivering not just survival, but a secure, sustainable, and shared era of human flourishing.