According to the World Economic Forum, the economic slowdown is becoming increasingly pronounced. It is even expected to reach its lowest level in three decades by 2030 due to ongoing economic and geopolitical shocks.
According to experts, the majority of countries are pursuing a growth that is neither sustainable nor inclusive, and that is limited in their ability to generate or adapt to innovation. The authors measure these aspects through four dimensions: inclusivity, resilience, sustainability, and innovation, each scored out of 100. On a global average, inclusivity and resilience show the highest scores with 55.9 and 52.8 respectively. On the other hand, global average sustainability is lower with a score of 46.8, and the innovation dimension is ranked last with a global average of 45.2.
Individually, none of the 107 countries covered by the study managed to exceed a score of 80 in any of the four dimensions. High-income countries with an average GDP of $52,475 per inhabitant have inclusive, innovative, and resilient growth, but weaker performances in sustainability. Middle-income countries show that they have a high interest in inclusivity and resilience, but they need to improve sustainability and innovation capacity. Low-income countries, on the other hand, have shown high performance in sustainability due to a lower environmental footprint per inhabitant.
In a context of accelerated climate change, these results highlight the importance of rethinking the conventional approach to economic growth. It is in this perspective that the WEF proposes a more integrative vision, which values not only economic growth but also resilience, inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation. This proposition comes at a crucial moment, as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the limitations of traditional growth models and the need for a more balanced and sustainable development approach.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a non-profit international organization based in Switzerland. Founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a German economist and engineer, it is most known for its annual assembly in Davos, a mountain resort in the Swiss Alps. The forum's aim is to bring together business leaders, policy makers, intellectuals, and journalists from around the world to discuss the urgent issues that the planet is facing, including health and the environment.
