Agenda Dialogues

The Arc of Progress in the 21st Century

Looking at global headlines today, it’s hard not to feel pessimism. Have recent wars, pandemics and autocracies made the idea of progress obsolete? Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker uses data and psychology to provide a fresh perspective on progress: why it is so hard to achieve and what ideas were responsible for progress in the past and will be needed for progress to continue?

Debating Education

From integrating next-generation technologies into curricula to addressing national perceptions of cultural issues, education is at a pivotal moment in ensuring that it adequately trains and teaches future generations. In this town hall, leaders debate what success can look like for education globally. This is the full audio from a session at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting on 22 January, 2025.

The Dawn of Artificial General Intelligence?

Artificial general intelligence could possess the versatility to reason, learn and innovate in any task. But with rising concerns about job losses, surveillance and deepfakes, will AGI be a force for progress or a threat to the very fabric of humanity? This session at the Annual Meeting 2025 was developed in collaboration with The Atlantic.

New Agreement on Plastics: What Will It Take?

In December 2024, over 170 countries gathered to conclude a global treaty to reach a plastic pollution-free world by 2040. While negotiations were inconclusive, the countries sought to complete the process in 2025, highlighting an urgent, time-bound need to bridge remaining areas of divergence.

The Global Economic Outlook

Nearly five years since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the global economy, growth is slow but stable, inflation has gradually declined in advanced economies and trade trends have turned positive. Despite this, there remain challenges such as high public debt burdens, ongoing geo-economic tensions and the potential impact of industrial policies on smaller countries. Given this landscape, what are the plausible scenarios for the global economy in 2025?