Despite surpassing pre-pandemic levels, the barometer shows no significant progress in the past three years, highlighting an urgent need for adaptive and innovative leadership to address global crises and deliver tangible results.
The report, based on 41 indicators across five pillars—trade, innovation, climate, health, and security—underscores the critical role of cooperation in tackling mounting challenges. However, it warns that global peace and security are under severe strain, with increased conflicts and a record number of forcibly displaced people weighing heavily on the world’s collective security.
The deterioration of this pillar has significantly dragged down the overall barometer score, revealing the fragility of global collaboration amid a more fragmented geopolitical landscape.
While cooperation in some areas has slowed, there are pockets of progress. Climate cooperation remains relatively strong, driven by increased financing flows and the adoption of low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and renewables.
However, with global emissions rising and the world falling short of its net-zero targets, the report calls for accelerated action to scale solutions. Only 17% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be achieved, underlining the urgency of international collaboration as the world enters the latter half of the decade.
Innovation and technology showed mixed results. While the digitization of the global economy has increased cooperation, fragmentation around frontier technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence threatens to slow productivity growth.
The rapid advancement of technologies, coupled with inadequate mechanisms to manage their risks, poses a dual challenge: leaders must work together to harness their benefits while addressing potential dangers, including the risk of an AI arms race.
Trade and capital flows also reflected a complex picture. While goods trade dropped, particularly in China and other developing economies, this was offset by surging foreign direct investment in strategic sectors like semiconductors and green energy, as well as rebounding labor migration and remittances, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
Health and wellness outcomes remain a bright spot, with life expectancy and child mortality rates improving post-pandemic. However, cross-border development assistance and pharmaceutical R&D cooperation have declined, threatening global health systems amid aging populations and rising health risks.
The report paints a sobering picture of global cooperation but emphasizes that constituencies worldwide are looking for collaborative solutions rather than a retreat from shared challenges. For instance, a significant portion of the global population is urging their governments to take more decisive action on climate change.
Børge Brende, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, stressed the need for dynamic decision-making, saying, “The barometer shows that cooperation is not only essential to address pressing economic, environmental, and technological challenges—it remains possible, even in today’s turbulent context.”
With time running out to address global crises and achieve meaningful progress, the report calls on leaders to adopt adaptive, solutions-driven approaches to rebuild trust and unlock new opportunities for shared resilience, growth, and security.
