List of global issues
List of environmental and other issues affecting life on Earth
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Global catastrophic risks
Not all of these risks are independent, because the majority, if not all of them are a result of human activity.
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United Nations list
The UN has listed issues that it deems to be the most pressing as of 2023:
As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) were superseded by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030), which are also known as The Global Goals. There are associated Targets and Indicators for each Global Goal.
World Economic Forum List
In keeping with their economy-centered view, the World Economic Forum formulated a list of 10 most pressing points in 2016:
- Food security
- Inclusive growth
- Future of work/unemployment
- Climate change
- 2008 financial crisis
- Future of the internet/Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Gender equality
- Global trade and investment and regulatory frameworks
- Long-term investment/Investment strategy
- Future healthcare
Global environmental issues
No single issue can be analysed, treated, or isolated from the others. For example, habitat loss and climate change adversely affect biodiversity. Deforestation and pollution are direct consequences of overpopulation and both, in turn, affect biodiversity. While overpopulation locally leads to rural flight, this is more than counterbalanced by accelerating urbanization and urban sprawl. Theories like the world-system theory and the Gaia hypothesis focus on the inter-dependency aspect of environmental and economic issues. Among the most evident environmental problems are:
- Overconsumption – situation where resource use has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem.
- Overpopulation – too many people for the planet to sustain.
- Biodiversity loss
- Food waste
- Deforestation
- Desertification
- Global warming/climate change
- Habitat destruction
- Soil degradation
- Holocene extinction
- Ocean acidification
- Ozone depletion
- Pollution
- Resource depletion
- Urban sprawl
Literature
- John L. Seitz, Kristen A. Hite (2012). Global Issues (4 ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-470-65564-1.
- Richard J. Payne (2012). Global Issues (4th ed.). Pearson. ISBN 978-0205854592.
- Michael T. Snarr, D. Neil Snarr, ed. (2012). Introducing Global Issues (5th ed.). Lynne Rienner Pub. ISBN 978-1588268457.
- Shirley A. Fedorak (2013). Global Issues: A Cross-Cultural Perspective Paperback. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1442605961.
- Global Education Magazine
- Global Environmental Politics