So says the 2009 State of the Future report produced by, among others, the United Nations, Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation. The report focused on the sizeable impact of the global recession and climate change.
Half the world could face violence and unrest due to severe unemployment combined with scarce water, food and energy supplies and the cumulative effects of climate change.
The report finds hope in technological development and the possibility that the global financial crisis will generate a more "globally responsible adulthood" that will prompt drastic changes. It praises the internet for its democratizing and educational effects.
Still, the report is mostly grim. Food and energy prices are likely to continue to increase. Water is becoming scarce, and climate change will likely set off migrations of people as they seek to find food or escape environmental catastrophe.
The effects of climate change are worsening – by 2025 there could be three billion people without adequate water as the population rises still further. And massive urbanisation, increased encroachment on animal territory, and concentrated livestock production could trigger new pandemics.
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