The document outlines 9 major challenges facing the world: 1) climate change, 2) environmental degradation, 3) biodiversity loss, 4) pollution and waste, 5) fresh water scarcity, 6) extreme poverty, 7) inequality, 8) food and nutrition insecurity, and 9) disease and health risks. Each challenge is described in terms of its impacts and raises important questions about how we can address and mitigate the issues. Key problems include warming temperatures affecting habitats and agriculture, ecosystem degradation, high species extinction rates, pollution's health impacts, growing water stress, ongoing poverty, rising inequality, need to boost food production, and unequal access to healthcare.
2. Climate change refers to the long term warming of the
earth’s climate system and is described by Kagawa and
Selby (2010:xv) as ‘the greatest human induced crisis facing
the world today’. In its most recent summary for policy
makers the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) re-asserted that the evidence of
climate change is now unequivocal and also confirmed the
anthropogenic nature of this warming of the climate system
(IPCC, 2014). These changes in temperature and
precipitation as well as rising sea levels are affecting natural
habitats as well as agriculture and food supplies.
1. Climate Change
3. Challenges that we and our students face today include:
How can we mitigate climate change?
How can we improve the resilience and adaptability of our
communities in the face of climate change?
How can we meet growing energy demands in ways that are
carbon neutral?
1. Climate Change
4. Significant problems remain with regard to ocean
acidification and terrestrial ecosystem weakening
specifically through deforestation, desertification and
negative impacts upon soil quality through agricultural over-
use. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reports that
‘over the last 50 years human activity has altered
ecosystems at a faster rate and on a larger scale that at any
other time in human history’ (cited in Oxford Martin School,
2013: 27).
2. Environmental degradation
5. This raises challenges for us such as:
How can we provide food for all without weakening
terrestrial ecosystems and reducing soil quality?
How can we value the health of the environment within our
economic decision making processes?
How can we tackle root problems of poverty that contribute
to unsustainable and environmentally exploitative
behaviours?
2. Environmental degradation
6. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) claim that we are currently witnessing the greatest
species extinction rates ever recorded in human history. The
IUCN red list for threatened species had by 2013 evaluated
over 71,000 different species and identified 29% of these to
be threatened with extinction (IUCN, 2013).
3. Biodiversity loss
7. Again this leads to challenges such as:
How can we have a more complete picture of where human
lifestyles and population growth are impacting detrimentally
on the bio-diversity of the planet?
How can we advance behaviour change that conserves
habitats and reduces the threats of extinction to species?
How can we pursue a quality of life for all, in ways that are
more harmonious with nature?
3. Biodiversity loss
8. Industrial processes of production, which strive to meet
increased per capita consumption of resources, continue to
produce unprecedented levels of waste and pollution. This
is despite considerable efforts in recent years to increase
the recycling of waste. The prevalence of toxic, chemical
and biological wastes continue to be particularly problematic
(Gore, 2013). The World Health Organisation (WHO)
identifies air pollutants of major public health concern to
include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone,
nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. These are contributing
to a range of chronic and acute respiratory diseases with
indoor and outdoor air pollution being estimated to cause
over 3 million deaths per year (WHO, 2011).
4. Pollution and waste
9. Challenges in this area include:
How can we clean up our industrial process of production?
How can regenerative systems of a circular economy
dominate over linear flows of ‘resource to waste’?
4. Pollution and waste
10. Population growth and demographic changes, including a
rapid rise in urbanisation and increased demands from
agricultural and industrial processes, continue to place
considerable stresses on fresh water supplies. A recent
study by the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of
Global Change at MIT projected that by 2050, 5 billion
(52%) of the world’s projected 9.7 billion people will be living
in water stressed areas, most notably in India, Northern
Africa and the Middle East (Schlosser et al, 2014).
5. Fresh water scarcity
11. Challenges this raises for our students now and in their
future include:
How can everyone have access to clean water, free from
conflict and without overharvesting natural water supplies
for future generations?
How can the burden of water collection be eased, for
women in particular, and technology harnessed to improve
access to local water supplies?
5. Fresh water scarcity
12. The United Nations estimate that there are still over 1 billion
people living in extreme poverty in the world today (United
Nations, 2013). This is despite considerable progress in
recent years in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals
with regard to reducing poverty levels worldwide (about 700
million fewer people lived in conditions of extreme poverty in
2010 compared with 1990).
6. Extreme poverty
13. Consequently a major area of challenge that we face as a
global community is:
How can the progress made with regard to reducing poverty
levels worldwide (through the pursuit of the Millennium
Development Goals) be not only maintained but also
increased?
6. Extreme poverty
14. The gap between the economically rich and poor continues
to widen, with income inequality rising both within and
between many countries. In 2014 an Oxfam briefing paper
calculated that the world’s 85 wealthiest people hold as
much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion (Fuentes-Nieva &
Galasso, 2014). Their report also claims that seven out of
ten people live in countries where economic inequality has
increased in the last 30 years.
7. Inequality
15. This raises pressing challenges such as:
How can the currently widening gap between the
economically rich and poor be reduced both within and
between countries?
How can ethical economic systems provide fairer working
conditions for the most vulnerable employees?
How can we protect the liberty and human rights of all,
regardless of gender, religion, sexuality or socio-economic
background?
7. Inequality
16. Food and nutrition security remains a pressing problem
within many parts of the world, with 1 billion people still
suffering from food insecurity. The United Nations (2013:xi)
estimate that ‘food production will have to increase 70 per
cent globally to feed an additional 2.3 billion people by
2050’.
8. Food and nutrition
insecurity
17. Issues of challenge this raises for young citizens as they
grow up include:
As the human population continues to rise how can we grow
and supply enough food for all?
How can food supplies be made resilient in the long term
against the impact of megatrends such as climate change?
8. Food and nutrition
insecurity
18. Whilst radical improvements have been made in treatments
for example for HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria – access to these
treatments remains unequal, with the most socio-
economically disadvantaged suffering disproportionately
(Oxford Martin School, 2013). This is resulting in the
continued global presence of disease epidemics. In recent
years increased attention is also being given to the
emerging global problem of non-communicable diseases,
largely caused by lifestyle choices. One emerging global
problem in this area is obesity, now effecting more than 10%
of the world’s population. The World Health Organization
recently identified obesity and being overweight to be a
major global public health concern and estimated that it is a
cause of death of nearly 3 million adults per year (cited in
United Nations, 2013:91).
9. Disease and health risks
19. This line of thought raises challenges such as:
How can access to existing treatments for disease and
illness be made available to all? How can the threat of new
more resistant strains of diseases be responded to in the
future?
How can citizens be supported in healthy lifestyle choices in
order to reduce the rising risk of non-communicable
diseases or problems such as obesity?
9. Disease and health risks
20. References
Fuentes-Nieva, R. and Galasso, N. (2014) Working for the few: political capture
and economic inequality. Oxford: Oxfam International.
Gore, A. (2013) The Future. New York: WH Allen.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014) Climate Change 2014:
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policy Makers. Stanford: IPCC.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (2013) ‘Red List Table 1 Numbers of
threatened species by major groups of organisms (1996–2013).
(http://cmsdocs.s3.amazonaws.com/summarystats/2013_2_RL_Stats_Table1.pdf;
accessed 20/03/14).
Kagawa, F. and Selby, D. (2010) Education and Climate Change. London: Routledge.
Oxford Martin School (2013) Now for the Long Term: The Report of the Oxford
Martin Commission for Future Generations. Oxford: Oxford University.
21. References
Schlosser, C.A., K.M. Strzepek, X. Gao, A. Gueneau, C. Fant, S. Paltsev, B. Rasheed,
T. Smith-Greico, É. Blanc, H.D. Jacoby and J.M. Reilly (2014) The Future of Global
Water Stress: An Integrated Assessment. Boston: MIT Joint Program Report Series. 30.
United Nations (2013) World Economic and Social Survey 2013 Sustainable Development
Challenges. New York: United Nations.
World Health Organisation (2011) Air quality and health Fact Sheet No 313.
(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/ Date accessed 20.03.14)
