We need more optimism and inspiration about our future. In a world increasingly overwhelmed by crises, it’s more crucial than ever for humanity to find reasons to believe in our ability to create a better planet and a brighter future for our children.
Every week at Wilton Park, our events explore examples of both the scale of the challenges we face, and the potential to imagine and build better futures for us all. Our work on Africa exemplifies this – a continent which will soon provide half the global workforce, and where accelerating global technology revolutions could most dramatically overturn current challenges, including in relation to healthcare, economic integration, infrastructure, energy, and a host of other areas.
Similarly on climate change, despite the immense challenges that still exist, it is becoming increasingly possible to imagine a world of rapidly transformative innovation, particularly in areas like solar power, which is making real inroads into this existential challenge. There is much work to be done, but to mobilise countries behind the effort required, we have to hold out the real hope that change is possible, and achievable, as a path to a better future.
This is particularly evident and challenging when it comes to addressing the tragic conflicts and daily loss of life in Eastern Congo, Sudan, Lebanon, the Occupied Territories, Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere. These challenges can arguably be seen as symptoms of a system of global norms and institutions that urgently require renewal if humanity is to better navigate our time together on this planet.
Yet here too, the incredible advances in technology and society we are seeing play out before us bring hope, as well as risk. Identifying, defining and grasping that hope, as well as the risk, is just the first, but arguably most vital step, to securing our common future, and sits at the heart of much of Wilton Park’s work.
Tom Cargill
Chief Executive
