How does global issues affect the world

And it is seen as a key factor in the rise of protests around the globe, which shows no signs of abating in Toppling barriers to opportunity is key to making the transformative progress needed in As stressed in the Human Development Report , we need to evolve our understanding of inequality.

Just as the SDGs replaced the more basic Millennium Development Goals, so, too, must we expand our definition of inequality to address the obstacles to 21 st century skills and opportunities. This perspective on inequality means understanding who is getting left behind — where, and how.

Another tool to address inequality is expanding measures of economic performance to account for social conditions, as many leading thinkers are starting to do. Some actors, though not nearly enough, are also taking action. And the Business Roundtable shook the business community with a statement that shifts company focus from shareholders to stakeholders. In , the battle against inequality will take many forms.

The Secretary-General is shining a light on the connection between human rights and inequality. And addressing inequality will be at the heart of the Decade of Action campaign on the SDGs, as it underpins progress across the framework. This year is an opportunity to bring inequality back into focus and to build approaches necessary to tackle the next frontier of challenges that will affect societies, including around technology and climate change.

The year marks the ninth anniversary of the war in Syria, and the fifth in Yemen. Lethal violence and violent crime is on the rise, affecting growing cities in an urbanizing world. And the risk of interstate conflicts and geopolitical strife has taken center stage. These factors build on worrying trends from , where more people required assistance than initially forecast due to conflicts and extreme weather-related disasters.

Women and children are being disproportionately affected and are at higher risks of sexual and gender-based violence. According to the Global Humanitarian Report , one out of every 45 people on this planet will need help and protection next year.

In , almost million people in crises will need help and protection across more than 50 countries, the highest figure in decades. These figures put into stark relief the challenges of achieving the SDGs in such daunting contexts. We have just witnessed the first year of implementation of UN reforms intended to better connect development work with peacekeeping and security, with an emphasis on preventing conflict.

But the scale of the response still does not match the global need, and greater attention must be given to resolving conflicts and providing peace in The year is the time to move the world closer to a sustainable, equitable, and just future and to set the tone for the decade ahead. The UN continues to promote justice and international law across its three pillars of work: international peace and security, economic and social progress and development, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Since the earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Today, more people than ever before live in a country other than the one in which they were born. Life itself arose from the oceans. The ocean is vast, some 72 per cent of the earth's surface.

Not only has the oceans always been a prime source of nourishment for the life it helped generate, but from earliest recorded history it has served for trade and commerce, adventure and discovery. Saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war was the main motivation for creating the United Nations, whose founders lived through the devastation of two world wars. In , five years after the founding of the United Nations, world population was estimated at around 2.

It reached 5 billion in and 6 in In October , the global population was estimated to be 7 billion. There were By clicking the "I accept" button, you consent to the use of these cookies. Food security and why it matters. By , the world must feed 9 billion people.

The United Nations has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition , and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs for the year To achieve these objectives we will need to address a host of issues, from gender parity and ageing populations to skills development and global warming. Agriculture sectors will have to become more productive by adopting efficient business models and forging public-private partnerships.

And they need to become sustainable by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste. Why should growth be inclusive? The push for economic growth in recent decades has led to substantial increases in wealth for large numbers of people across the globe.

But despite huge gains in global economic output, there is evidence that our current social, political and economic systems are exacerbating inequalities, rather than reducing them. A growing body of research also suggests that rising income inequality is the cause of economic and social ills, ranging from low consumption to social and political unrest, and is damaging to our future economic well-being. In order to boost growth and counter the slowdown in emerging markets, we need to step up efforts around the world to accelerate economic activity and to ensure that its benefits reach everybody in society.

What will the world of work look like? The scale of the employment challenge is vast. The International Labour Organization estimates that more than 61 million jobs have been lost since the start of the global economic crisis in , leaving more than million people unemployed globally. Nearly million new jobs will need to be created by to provide opportunities to those currently unemployed and to the young people who are projected to join the workforce over the next few years.

At the same time, many industries are facing difficulty hiring qualified staff. Put simply, we need jobs for the hundreds of millions of unemployed people around the world, and we need the skilled employees that businesses are struggling to find. Climate change: can we turn words into action? We're already seeing and feeling the impacts of climate change with weather events such as droughts and storms becoming more frequent and intense, and changing rainfall patterns. Insurers estimate that since the s weather-related economic loss events have tripled.

Under the agreement, every country will implement its own climate action plan that will be reviewed in and then every five years to ratchet up ambition levels.

Wealthier countries also committed to deliver significant flows of money and technical support to help poor countries cope with curbing their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. What's the future of global finance? This feedback loop is accelerating the melting process faster that we ever expected.

The addition of fresh water to the oceans around the world could change the stability of ocean systems and raise sea levels to dangerous levels. Some countries, like Bangladesh, are topographically at sea level.

Its refugees will be forced from their country to seek shelter in other countries. Unfortunately, most nations- especially in developing regions don't have the infrastructure, the political institutions, the food or the funds to deal with such a population influx. Meaning, these refugees face starvation when they are forced from their country of origin.

Fortunately, there is a growing movement in the global community to recognize environmental refugees. Once officially recognized, it will be easier to appropriate funds and offer aid and relief to these people.

Certain advances in medical technology may help to lessen the death toll taken by the spread of major diseases. Aid efforts like food aid and even mosquito nets can help stop save human lives from malaria and other spreading diseases. Engineering and infrastructural technology can equip the next generation with safer, more reliable homes and cities.