List of global issues


This is a list of global issues.
Informally, a global issue is any issue that adversely affects the global community and environment, possibly in a catastrophic way, including environmental issues, political crisis, social issues and economic crisis.
Solutions to global issues generally require cooperation among nations.
In their book Global Issues, Hite and Seitz emphasize that global issues are qualitatively different from international affairs and that the former arise from growing international interdependencies which makes the issues themselves interdependent. It is speculated that our global interconnectedness, instead of making us more resilient, makes us more vulnerable to global catastrophe.

Global catastrophic risks

The UN has listed issues that it deems to be the most pressing as of 2015:
Top-level issueIssuesRelevant UN directives/initiatives
Africapoverty, diseases, desertification, malnutrition, regional conflictOffice of the Special Adviser on Africa, African Union, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur
Ageingageing population, demographic transitionVienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, United Nations Principles for Older Persons, Proclamation on Ageing, International Year of Older Persons
Agriculturesustainable agriculture, food securityFood and Agriculture Organization
AIDSPrevention of HIV/AIDS, HIV and pregnancy, HIV/AIDS denialismJoint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Atomic energynuclear weapons, nuclear wasteInternational Atomic Energy Agency, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
ChildrenChild poverty, Child labour, Child abuse, Child mortality, Global educationEducation First, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme, Global Education First Initiative
DecolonizationexploitationUnited Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Trust Territories, International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism
Deminingland minesMine Action Coordination Center, Ottawa Treaty
DemocracydemocratizationUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UNDP, UNDEF, DPKO, DPA, OHCHR, UN Women
Developmentsocial transformation, economic developmentSocial protection floor
Disarmamentweapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons, conventional weapons, landmines and small armsUnited Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
Environmentpollution, deforestation, desertification, etc., see [|Global environment issues] belowUnited Nations Conference on the Human Environment, World Environment Day, United Nations Environment Programme, Framework Convention on Climate Change, Montreal Protocol, Convention to Combat Desertification, Convention on Biological Diversity
Familysocialisation of children, s.a. Ageing, ChildrenUNFPA, UNICEF, International Year of the Family
Foodmissing food security and safety, food riots, world hungerFAO, World Food Programme
Governancelack of equity, participation, pluralism, transparency, accountability, rule of law
Healthmaternal health, extreme povertyMillennium Development Goals
Human rightshuman rights violationsUniversal Declaration of Human Rights
Human settlementsslums, urbanization, sanitationUN-HABITAT, Millennium Development Goal
Humanitarian assistance humanitarian crisis, human migration, displacementWorld Food Programme, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Organization for Migration
International lawwar crimes, discrimination, state-corporate crimeInternational Law Commission, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Oceans / Law of the Sea marine pollution, ocean governanceUnited Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
Peace and securityUnited Nations peacekeeping, List of United Nations peacekeeping missions, Peacebuilding Commission
People with disabilitiesdiscrimination, lack of universal designConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Populationoverpopulation, world populationUNFPA
Refugees United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration,
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
TerrorismComprehensive Convention on International Terrorism
VolunteerismUnited Nations Volunteers
Water water scarcity, water conflict, water privatization, water pollutionUN-Water, System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water, Water for Life Decade, International Recommendations on Water Statistics, United Nations Water Conference, Millennium Development Goals, International Conference on Water and the Environment, Earth Summit
Womenwomen's rights, gender equalityCommission on the Status of Women, International Women's Year

World Economic Forum list / economic issues

In keeping with their economy-centered view, the World Economic Forum formulated a list of 10 most pressing points in 2016:
  1. Food security
  2. Inclusive growth
  3. Future of work/unemployment
  4. Climate change
  5. Financial crisis of 2007–2008
  6. Future of the internet/Fourth Industrial Revolution
  7. Gender equality
  8. Global trade and investment and regulatory frameworks
  9. Long-term investment/Investment strategy
  10. Future healthcare

    Global environmental issues

No single issue can be analysed, treated, or isolated from the others. For example, habitat loss and climate change adversely affect biodiversity. Deforestation and pollution are direct consequences of overpopulation and both, in turn, affect biodiversity. While overpopulation locally leads to rural flight, this is more than counterbalanced by accelerating urbanization and urban sprawl. Theories like the world-system theory and the Gaia hypothesis focus on the inter-dependency aspect of environmental and economic issues. Among the most evident environmental problems are: