Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World

The report details the outcomes of the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, highlighting initiatives to address global inequality, the governance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the need for a new narrative of global cooperation in a multipolar world. Key outcomes include the launch of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), the Global Centre for Cybersecurity, and various national partnerships to promote green growth and gender equality.

• The global economy shows positive growth, but macroeconomic data hides severe challenges regarding environmental sustainability and wealth inequality, with 82% of wealth created in 2017 going to the top 1% of the population.
• There is a pressing need to move beyond GDP as the primary measure of economic health toward models like the Inclusive Development Index, which prioritizes household standards of living over the production of goods and services.
• The 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' requires agile governance characterized by faster response times, a 'sense-and-respond' approach to regulation based on experimentation, and the creation of worldwide standards for technologies like 5G, IoT, and drones.
• To address the 'fractured' state of global politics, the report argues for 'cognitive empathy'—the conscious learning of others' historical experiences and beliefs—to navigate a multipolar world where the US, China, India, and Russia are key power centres.
• The Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) was formed by major companies and governments to combat electronic waste and plastics pollution, noting that only 9% of waste is currently cycled back into the economy.
• Cybersecurity is identified as a critical global risk; a PwC study found that 40% of organizations lacked a cybersecurity policy and 55% had no crisis response protocols.
• The report highlights specific national commitments to climate and sustainability, including France's pledge to close all coal-fired power stations by 2021 and China's role in accounting for 40% of global renewable energy investments.
• Automation and AI are expected to significantly disrupt the workforce, with some analysts predicting the replacement of nearly half of all jobs by 2055, necessitating a 'Reskilling Revolution'.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM18_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM18_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World |date=2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM18_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018creating, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM18_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }