Recent years saw a poisonous combination of compounding factors including climate change and trade disputes challenge global efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the need for new development paradigms.

by Fabrizio Hochschild

For decades, generations have grown up believing their children would inherit a better world than they did. The economy was growing, health care and education were improving, and poverty was decreasing, all at a speed never witnessed before in human history.

But can parents today still hold the same hope for their children's future? In many parts of the world, people have grown more pessimistic.

In 2015, with a deep commitment to a brighter future, members of the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each country set its development targets to meet by 2030. Ten years later, the hope has turned sour: very few countries will likely meet their targets.

In recent years, a poisonous combination of compounding factors has put a break on human development: one, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic; two, an increase in conflicts and three, and perhaps most importantly, climate change.

The last 10 years are the 10 hottest on record and are likely the hottest in 125,000 years, scientists have said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a worst-case scenario of an over 4-percent rise in global warming by 2100. This will affect half the global population with mass displacement from rising oceans, widespread drought and ever more extreme climate events.

A fourth emerging factor to hinder global development is worsening trade disputes. Many of the benefits of global growth and development have been facilitated through a shared effort to reach a global understanding of what constitutes fair trade. The global economy is now being fractured. The International Monetary Fund has made clear that this will have a chilling effect on global growth.

Trade disputes are symptomatic of an increasing malaise in international affairs. In this insecure environment, many countries are increasing their defense spending, often at the cost of their investment in social programs and sustainable development.

Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need for new paradigms for development. As China has articulated, harnessing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and promoting science and innovation should be at the heart of this new paradigm. However, such policies cannot be embraced only by the handful of countries currently at the forefront of emerging technologies.

Developing countries need to be supported in leapfrogging to the fourth industrial revolution. This will demand global cooperation to promote and share science and technological know-how, including AI.

The first step is ensuring global digital connectivity. A more coordinated and inclusive approach is needed. Without this, access to knowledge and the use of AI will remain evasive. In the least developed countries, under 40 percent of the population now have access to the Internet. In this regard, the China-proposed Digital Silk Road initiative is one major effort to promote global connectivity.

Unfortunately, where the good of the planet and its people demands cooperation, distrust and hostility too often stand in the way. Chinese leadership in forging partnerships that bridge geopolitical divides, particularly for the benefit of the developing world, will be critical. Such partnerships are essential to restore the belief that a brighter future for the next generation is still within reach.

Editor's note: Fabrizio Hochschild is a former under-secretary-general of the United Nations.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.