The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday expressed serious concerns about the lingering conflicts across the global geopolitical zones and the negative implications for the shared vision of a collaborative approach in championing broad-based socioeconomic growth for the world in the years ahead.
The WEF, in a Press Release issued on its just published ‘Global Cooperation Barometer 2025’ report developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, noted that international cooperation had “flatlined”, driven by heightened geopolitical tensions and instability, but positive momentum in climate finance, health and innovation offers hope.
The Forum reported that in an era of heightened volatility, leaders would need to embrace “disordered” cooperation and dynamic, solutions-driven decision-making to deliver tangible results and build trust.
This is even as the report’s findings indicated that as AI and other emerging technologies are reshaping the global landscape and driving upheaval, concerted cooperation would be critical to harness their benefits and minimize risks.
The report offers a critical assessment of the state of global cooperation, showing a world grappling with heightened competition and conflict, while also identifying various areas where leaders can drive progress through innovative collaboration.
According to the WEF, the flagship annual report which is released amid geopolitical, technological and sociopolitical upheaval, underscores the urgency of addressing shared challenges and offers leaders guidance on what cooperation can look like in a shifting world.
The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 report, which used 41 indicators to measure the current state of global cooperation, aim to offer leaders a tool to better understand the contours of cooperation broadly and along five pillars: trade and capital flows, innovation and technology, climate and natural capital, health and wellness, and peace and security.
Now in its second edition, the Barometer draws on new data to provide an updated picture of the global cooperation landscape, with a particular focus on the impact of the new technological age.
Commenting on the annual report, the WEF President/CEO, Børge Brende, said: “The Barometer is being released at a moment of great global instability and at a time when many new governments are developing agendas for the year, and their terms, ahead.
“What the Barometer shows is that cooperation is not only essential to address crucial economic, environmental and technological challenges, it is possible within today’s more turbulent context”, Brende added.
In his remarks, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, Bob Sternfels, said: “This second edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer focuses on where cooperation stands today and what it can look like in the new technological age.
“Advancing global innovation, health, prosperity and resilience cannot be done alone. Leaders will need new mechanisms for working together on key priorities, even as they disagree on others, and the past several years have shown this balance is possible”, he stressed.
The WEF further clarified: “The latest edition of the Barometer highlights that global cooperation is at a critical juncture. The report’s analysis reveals that after trending positively for a decade and surpassing pre-pandemic levels, overall cooperation has stagnated.
“This has been driven by a sharp decline of the peace and security pillar of the Barometer over the past seven years, caused by mounting geopolitical tensions and competition which have significantly eroded global collective security. Levels of conflict and attendant humanitarian crises have increased in the past year to record levels, driven by crises including, but not limited to, the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
“As the largely stable cooperative order that defined the post-Cold War period is giving way to a more fragmented landscape, solutions to pressing challenges – from climate action to technological governance – require collaboration. And despite the global security crises, the new findings indicate that collaboration has continued in various areas including vaccine distribution, scientific research, renewable energy development, and more – offering models for future cooperation”, the Forum stated.
