Global systems increasingly under stress

2010 State of the Future report presented in Berlin

By providing a venue and other resources, the Bertelsmann Stiftung supported the European launch of the 2010 State of the Future report, the Millennium Project's annual publication providing updated information on global issues as well as current and coming sustainable development trends. In addition to its State of the Future series, the think tank also publishes studies on specific topics and analysis of international policymaking strategies and goals.

Prepared with the assistance of more than 2,500 experts worldwide, the State of the Future report is an important resource for assessing key trends in the area of global challenges. "In light of that, it deserves a wide audience", said Malte Boecker, senior expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, which uses the report's findings within its International Cultural Dialogue and Sustainable Development projects. "The report makes clear that various global developments are systematically related to each other, a finding that is of particular significance for us," Boecker said. "Demographic shifts, consumer behavior and economic goals that can only be achieved by negatively impacting the environment or social stability all reinforce each other, putting more and more stress on global systems."

In particular, the 2010 report shows that the chances have diminished of reducing the CO2 emissions resulting from economic development and of using economic development to increase employment levels around the globe. "In light of the recent financial, economic and debt crises and the failure of the climate summit in Copenhagen to produce robust results, what is needed most to achieve forward-looking global development is the creation of an economic system that is ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive", Boecker said. As a result, the 2010 Salzburg Trilogue -- an interdisciplinary forum co-organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and scheduled to be held in August in Salzburg, Austria -- will examine the steps that must be taken to create a new economic order that is no longer focused on long-term growth, but on increasing social and economic participation and reducing humanity's environmental footprint. Creating such an order will also require recognizing the ethical limits of economic growth, redefining progress and prosperity and, according to many experts, focusing to a greater extent than in the past on identifying non-material sources of wellbeing.