Brazil8 global challenges for governments and the road to progress
Government leaders today face a myriad of strategic challenges, each of them posing both risks and opportunities. To help leaders navigate these challenges, the World Government Summit and Kearney have released a 150-page guide that spells out what the top challenges are – and how they can be overcome.
Having canvassed the views of government leaders worldwide, the report outlines eight challenges which the authors say are pressing and common in all regions. These include challenges such as misinformation, climate change, cyber risks, deteriorating mental health, and more.
In the report titled ‘8 Transformations: From Crises to Opportunities’, the authors walk through the different pathways leaders have to solve or mitigate these challenges, or even turn them into opportunities for more prosperity.
For each challenge, the World Government Summit and Kearney identify potential solutions, explore what is needed to realising these solutions; and then put forward self-sustaining paths to progress.
The challenges
The eight challenges and transformations highlighted in the report are:
Erosion of Truth
A science-based approach to igniting the market for credible content
Atmospheric Carbon
A global moonshot to achieve an exponential leap in the removal of atmospheric carbon
Tech-Driven Job Displacement
Harnessing AI in education to accelerate the future-readiness of the workforce
Health Crisis
Institutionalising early detection and treatment of chronic disease to extend health span
Cyber Weapons Proliferation
A governed marketplace to bring the illicit trade of cyber vulnerabilities into the light
Societal Polarisation
Systematic disruption of the cycle of dehumanisation and polarisation
Youth Psychological Well-being
Algorithm-based research to understand and reverse mental health spirals
Crisis of Meaning and Purpose
Work for impact to instil a sense of meaning
As with most complex issues, the report urges governments not to linger too long with action. “Proactive and early responses offer governments a strategic upper hand, bolstering national resilience and propelling progress in both the near and long-term future.”
Reflections from leaders
Commenting on the launch of the report, Mohamed Yousef AlSharhan, Managing Director of the World Governments Summit, said: “Governments around the world must rebuild trust in their institutions by putting people first, and at the heart of the decision- and policymaking process. This report aims to place a guide in their hands that can lead to real, tangible and lasting transformative change in the way governance models work for the people they must serve.”
Rudolph Lohmeyer, Partner and Head of the National Transformations Institute at Kearney, said: “The world has entered a fragile and disorientating period of transition, facing a “polycrisis” spanning geopolitical, environmental, economic, and social domains.”
“Like all critical junctures, this one is characterised by pervasive volatility, institutional fluidity, and deep strategic uncertainty. It is also characterised by vast opportunities for transformative action – a period when human agency is most needed and most possible, particularly given the discontinuous advances we are seeing in a range of key technologies such as generative AI.”
Kearney is one of the longstanding strategic partners of the World Government Summit.
