The Global Gender Gap Report 2014
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Through the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the complete situation, the Global Gender Gap Index presented in this Report seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics.
Latest blog posts >>
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What trying to build a fair smartphone teaches us about ethical technology
Monday 24th of September 2018
Have you ever asked yourself who made your phone? Or how it works? Today no single human knows where all the parts of a smartphone come from. Who made them? Under what conditions? The systems that are hidden behind the plain glass of the phone that you hold in your hand are enormous, and paying attention to them could just change the world.
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In these humane Brazilian prisons, inmates hold the keys to their cells
Monday 24th of September 2018
The horrors of Brazilian prisons are notorious. Brutality, endemic violence, riots and severe overcrowding have given Brazil the ignominy of having one of the worst penal systems in the world.
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Jacinda Ardern is making her UN debut – and she’s bringing her baby
Monday 24th of September 2018
At the United Nations this week, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has to contend with some daunting challenges – her debut before world leaders and the sleep schedule of her 3-month-old baby.
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Ahead of the 2030 deadline, there are large gaps in the data on gender equality
Monday 24th of September 2018
World leaders who have pledged to end gender inequality by 2030 will miss the ambitious target if they do not accelerate efforts to plug “profound” data gaps, experts said ahead of launching a new gender index on Wednesday.
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5 ways to go green in your own kitchen
Monday 24th of September 2018
I became vegetarian back in 2001 for one simple reason: I didn’t want to cause animals to suffer. A few years later, I was stunned to find out that in addition to harming the animals themselves, rearing them damages our planet.
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The hidden cost of the electric car boom – child labour
Monday 24th of September 2018
Last year, more than one million electric vehicles were sold. By 2020, it’s likely that will rise to 4.5 million, or 5% of the global market for cars and small trucks.
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Sustainability is now mission critical for businesses. Here’s why
Monday 24th of September 2018
“Can I afford to buy organic, go sustainable or shop Fair Trade?”
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World-changers: meet the Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2018
Monday 24th of September 2018
Girls’ education, sexual violence, prison reform, financial inclusion and disaster relief are among the issues addressed by the 12 honourees recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as the 2018 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.
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Social organizations will play a key role in the energy transition. Here’s why
Monday 24th of September 2018
When talking about the energy transition, it’s easy to be amazed: solar installations are hitting new records, while battery storage prices are breaking down at a level barely imaginable a year ago. However, clean technologies still have a limited impact on our society. How is that possible?
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3 important lessons from 20 years of working with social entrepreneurs
Monday 24th of September 2018
For the past two decades, well before social entrepreneurship was the mainstream concept it is today, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has been identifying, showcasing and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. It has provided them with the platform to scale and replicate their solutions in partnership with other crucial stakeholders of the World Economic Forum.
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How can we understand censorship in the 21st Century?
Monday 24th of September 2018
Once upon a time we all knew what censorship was, who the good and bad guys were, and what could be done to make the world a better place. Look up the noun “censor” in the Oxford English Dictionary and you’ll find an outline of a much-told story under definition 2 (b):
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Why your company needs grouchy misfits
Monday 24th of September 2018
In modern-day management, there’s a whole lot of hoopla around mission statements. Your mission should sit alongside unique values (see Mark Zuckerberg’s tips on that) that together offer a vision for a world changed, however narrowly, by whatever your company makes, sells, or promises.
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The problem with identity: Who is the real you?
Monday 24th of September 2018
We all want other people to “get us” and appreciate us for who we really are. In striving to achieve such relationships, we typically assume that there is a “real me”. But how do we actually know who we are? It may seem simple – we are a product of our life experiences, which we can be easily accessed through our memories of the past.
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We’ve made significant progress on poverty, but we’ve got a long way to go
Monday 24th of September 2018
The number of people living on less than $1.90 a day has fallen to record low of about 655 million – or 9 percent of the world’s population – but a global target of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is unlikely to be met, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
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Why the world needs more female bankers
Monday 24th of September 2018
Women are underrepresented at all levels of the global financial system, from depositors and borrowers to bank board members and regulators.
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France has a plan to triple the share of journeys made by bike
Monday 24th of September 2018
France plans to more than triple the share of cycling in transport with a multi-year plan to build better bike lanes, financial incentives for bicycle commuters and measures against bike theft, the government said.
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Nepal is set to become the first country to double its wild tiger population
Monday 24th of September 2018
On the occasion of National Conservation Day today, Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. If these trends continue, Nepal could become the first country to double its national tiger population since the ambitious TX2 goal – to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022 – was set at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010.
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How new technologies can help beat hunger
Monday 24th of September 2018
Last year, 124 million people around the world faced food crises that required humanitarian action. The figures from the United Nations Food Programme show that more than 39 million people starved as a result of droughts.
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Refugees don’t just need food and shelter. They need the skills and knowledge to build new lives
Monday 24th of September 2018
Long-term educational and employment needs have historically been severely undervalued in humanitarian planning. But, as much as refugees need proper food, shelter, and health care today, they also need the knowledge and tools to build new lives and contribute to society tomorrow, whether in their home country or in a new one.
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No Fitbit, no insurance: is this the start of a major trend?
Monday 24th of September 2018
John Hancock, one of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, will stop underwriting traditional life insurance and instead sell only interactive policies that track fitness and health data through wearable devices and smartphones, the company said on Wednesday.
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Barrier islands protect coastlines – but they are also vulnerable
Monday 24th of September 2018
When hurricanes like Florence make landfall, the first things they hit often are barrier islands – thin ribbons of sand that line the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It’s hard to imagine how these narrow strips can withstand such forces, but in fact, many of them have buffered our shores for centuries.
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Deforestation in the Amazon is putting uncontacted tribes at risk
Monday 24th of September 2018
Illegal loggers and militias cleared an area three times the size of Gibraltar in Brazil’s Amazon this year, threatening an “uncontacted” indigenous tribe, activists said on Tuesday.
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What evolution should teach us about gender inequality
Monday 24th of September 2018
Gender inequality is very real in 2018.
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New Zealand was the first country where women won the right to vote. Here’s why
Monday 24th of September 2018
125 years ago today Aotearoa New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant all women the right to vote.
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What’s the impact of foreign expansion on bank risk?
Monday 24th of September 2018
Ten years after one of the deepest financial crises in history, economists are still searching for the deep-rooted causes that led to the unfolding of those events. One ground of consensus is that the crisis resulted from excessive build-up of risk and leverage in the banking sector. Banks had been exposing themselves to runnable short-term liabilities too heavily and had invested in risky portfolios in search of yield (for an overview of the causes, see Adrian and Shin 2009, Hanson et al. 2011). What incentives brought them to such behaviour with uncontrolled, and perhaps unintended, consequences is still a matter for heated debates.
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This is why productivity matters more than size in the service sector
Monday 24th of September 2018
The 20th century has been characterised by Fordism and large conglomerates, an era in which the traditional paradigm of large firms as the most productive and paying the highest wages would strongly hold. In this context, it should come as no surprise that the link between firm productivity, firm size and wages has been the subject of many economic studies, both from a theoretical and empirical point of view. The literature typically finds that:
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Britain after Brexit and the impact on the geopolitical landscape
Monday 24th of September 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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What you need to know about the Sustainable Development Impact Summit
Friday 21st of September 2018
When and where will the Summit take place?
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We need to do more to understand how climate change and conflict are linked. Here’s why
Friday 21st of September 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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The deforestation risks lurking in the banking sector
Friday 21st of September 2018
The signing of the Paris Agreement in December 2015 signalled a step change in government policy and regulation to combat climate change. While transitioning the energy sector has been an early priority, there’s no doubt that other segments including deforestation and commodities will come under future focus. On fossil fuels, the financial sector has already responded, and is increasing commitments to stop lending to or insuring the coal sector.
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Why we need both science and humanities for a Fourth Industrial Revolution education
Friday 21st of September 2018
The potential automation of many jobs raises some big and tricky questions, but one of these hasn’t received sufficient attention: what is the true purpose of education at a time when machines are getting smarter and smarter?
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7 ways for businesses to capture the youth dividend
Friday 21st of September 2018
Within every challenge lies an opportunity waiting to be seized. Businesses know this.
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From clean energy to gender equality, these innovators are changing the world
Friday 21st of September 2018
From using local trash to fuel cities, to creating climate investment funds, to helping new mothers break glass ceilings, young people are proving that there are many different approaches to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. On September 24 and 25, Young Global Leaders—a peer network of next-generation innovators and thought leaders—will gather in New York to add their voices to sessions and workshops at the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit. Their aim is to find new partners and mentors to further grow their projects. These leaders are inspiring others to think creatively about their social impact, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals:
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We can save the Earth. Here’s how
Friday 21st of September 2018
We hear a lot about how terrible the world is today.
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Built by a woman: supporting the dreams of mum entrepreneurs
Friday 21st of September 2018
As my husband and I sat on our porch on my 37th birthday, watching the sprinklers come on, I relived the last decade of our entrepreneurial journey to address the adversities faced by women. It felt comforting to look back at our accomplishments: establishing a sustainable company in a space driven by charity, impacting more than 1.5 million people and delivering half a million products to over 14 countries. An idea was now a fully functional machine. It also made me sad. It reminded me of questions and challenges I had faced from potential investors as I traveled over 700,000 miles to build my company. The questions would be either way too personal – regarding how many kids I had and who takes care of them, where I lived, my position in the household – or take the form of difficult challenges: could I cut the budget down to a half, reduce manpower or bring matching funds? I guess we are conditioned to think that women have to put more in to get less out.
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Inaction on obesity is bad for sustainable development
Friday 21st of September 2018
With just over 4,000 days left to transform our world and achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there is a very real possibility that we could fall short on achieving a crucial aim that impacts all the others – namely Sustainable Development Goal 3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”. This goal is critical to achieving all other economic, environmental and social objectives, since they are only possible with a thriving, healthy human population.
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Urban water management must become ‘agile’ to stave off drought
Friday 21st of September 2018
Water is a precious resource on our planet, and all life requires water to survive. Rapid urbanization has brought to acute focus a need for the intelligent management of fresh water, waste water and storm water to assure the safety of drinking water; for waste-water management and storm-water monitoring to keep urban dwelling secure; and to avoid water scarcity, public-health risks and flooding in urban areas. Recent events such as Melbourne’s Millennium drought and the crisis in Flint, Michigan illustrate not only the range of challenges faced by municipal governments, but also the universal imperative for a greater focus on water and the city. Developed and remote areas alike must be smarter about water.
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5 ways to net a sustainable future for aquaculture
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Aquaculture is currently the world’s fastest growing food industry, and now accounts for over 50% of the total global seafood supply. Sustainable aquaculture growth is key to easing pressure on wild fish stocks, which are globally under stress as a result of overfishing. The industry is challenged with the responsibility of feeding a rapidly growing global population, and as worldwide seafood consumption increases, sustainable aquaculture production has to increase to keep up with demand. However, concerns have surfaced about the environmental repercussions of such growth. Thanks to innovation and technology, however, the focus has shifted towards the longevity and sustainability of aquaculture.
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The 6 market gaps the finance sector must address to help meet the SDGs
Thursday 20th of September 2018
On 30 September 2015, the global community, represented by all 193 member states of the UN, adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Three months later, world leaders charted a new course in our battle against climate change with the Paris Agreement which – for the first time – brought all nations into a common cause to limit global temperature increases.
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Why the circular economy must link up the whole supply chain
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Finally, the long-discussed concept of the circular economy (CE) seems ready for takeoff. More and more observers see new information technologies like the internet of things (IoT), big data analytics or blockchain as the powerful means everybody is waiting for.
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The economic impact of improved transport links in Belt and Road countries
Thursday 20th of September 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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5 ways investors can address the climate challenge
Thursday 20th of September 2018
This year’s Climate Week turns the spotlight on an important question in the fight against climate change: who will pay for it?
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Sustainability will require more trust in markets, not less
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Emerging markets, by some measures, are setting the pace for improving global sustainability. Long the laggards, poor nations are turning heads.
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5 ways blockchain can transform the world of impact investing
Thursday 20th of September 2018
A growing number of forward-looking investors seek to generate social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. According to the 2018 Impact Investment Survey by the Global Impact Investing Network, respondents invested $35.5 billion into 11,136 deals during 2017.
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More than just a phone: mobile’s impact on sustainable development
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Can you live without your mobile phone? We all depend on mobile connectivity in our daily lives, but for many billions of people across the globe, mobile is more than just a useful communications device – it’s the only means of getting online, the only way of accessing education and health services, and a vital tool to help lift themselves out of poverty.
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7 amazing ways artificial intelligence is used in healthcare
Thursday 20th of September 2018
One of the biggest impacts of new technology – and perhaps the most life-changing – will be felt in healthcare. Diagnosis of illness will be fast and efficient, and medicine will be highly personalised. Wearable technology will be the norm, and we’ll know we are sick before we even get a single symptom. Meanwhile, new drugs will come to market at breakneck speed as clinical trials get faster and more accurate. Ultimately, we will become our own doctors. AI is already being used in healthcare, and these seven examples offer a glimpse into our medical future.
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Europe’s dirty air kills 400,000 people every year
Thursday 20th of September 2018
In Europe, the air you breathe could be the death of you. In fact, it could be killing as many as 400,000 people a year prematurely. As well as bringing about the early demise of almost half a million people, there are associated health costs that run into hundreds of billions of euros.
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Why we need a moderate approach to moderating online content
Thursday 20th of September 2018
The debate over what liability platforms have for content is divided into two diametrically opposed camps. One camp argues that we can only address the very real problems of fraud, harassment, incitement to violence, radicalization and political manipulation by making platforms strictly liable for the content that appears on their services; the other says that appointing platforms as police creates an unaccountable class of powerful gatekeepers and eliminates the very thing that has made social media so empowering for civic engagement and democratic movements.
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Meet China’s 5 biggest AI companies
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Two-thirds of global investment in artificial intelligence is poring in to China, which helped the AI industry there grow 67% last year alone.
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This is the problem with ranking the world’s most liveable places
Thursday 20th of September 2018
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently released its annual Global Liveability Index 2018 (GLI). The Index ranks 140 cities worldwide on factors such as social stability, culture and environment, healthcare, education and infrastructure. Vienna, Austria, topped the 2018 list surpassing 2017’s leader of Melbourne, Australia.
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Microplastics are spreading to new food chains via insects
Thursday 20th of September 2018
There is no doubt that plastic pollution in oceans is a growing worldwide problem. The internet is full of images of seabirds and other marine animals entangled in plastic waste, and animals starve because their guts are blocked with plastic bags.
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How AI could help us manage natural disasters
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Residents are struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, a record-breaking storm that has hit the US east coast and led to at least 32 deaths, floods and damaged homes. Meanwhile, Typhoon Mangkhut has been ravaging southern China. More than three million people were evacuated.
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3 things we can learn from those living their lives offline
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Many of us spend hours every day tethered to our devices, pawing at the screen to see if it will deliver a few more likes or emails, monitoring the world and honing our online presence. Social networking platforms such as Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are supposed to make us feel more connected. Yet our reliance on technology to “see” the social world around us can be a heavy burden.
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‘E-residents’: the surprising new citizens outpacing Estonia’s birthrate
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Like many European countries, Estonia faces a falling fertility rate and the economic pressures that come with it. A bright spot, however, is its e-resident program, which has resulted in virtual residents growing faster than the Baltic country’s real-life, native-born population.
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When it comes to tariffs and trade, we shouldn’t forget the role of companies
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Are tariffs the only way to stop outsourcing? This perspective has been widely debated as the U.S. engages in trade wars with China, Mexico and Canada, but it ignores many of the realities of how companies actually make sourcing decisions – and the ways they naturally consider national interests when making them, writes Wharton operations, information and decisions professor Morris A. Cohen in this opinion piece.
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Technology could be the solution to these five global problems
Thursday 20th of September 2018
1 Child abuse
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What global cities can learn from Melbourne
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Cities will have to embrace “agility” to adapt land use to the flexible needs that new technological innovations will require, the World Economic Forum said in a report released on Wednesday.
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This could be the key to increased growth and lower poverty in Asia
Thursday 20th of September 2018
In Asia, the world’s fastest-growing region, expanding access to financial services for more people will mean higher growth, as well as lower poverty and inequality.
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10 years after the global crisis, what’s the state of the economy?
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Much will be said about the tenth anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis, so I will focus on the global economy, which has not been nearly as weak as many seem to think.
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We’re living in the age of the great communicator. This is why
Thursday 20th of September 2018
As a best-selling author, Harvard instructor, keynote speaker and brand adviser, Carmine Gallo has spent his career focused on communication skills. He believes the ancient art of persuasion has been lost in the modern business world, and he wants to help workers bring it back. His latest book is titled Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get From Good to Great.