Agenda

From the trauma of the global pandemic, a new economy is emerging. Global lockdowns freed creative minds, triggering breakthrough innovation in everything from healthcare and education to connectivity and logistics. Advances in fundamental science like artificial intelligence and gene editing are animating the business world. Meanwhile, global investors are rethinking long-term strategic goals and prioritizing sustainability. What are the pillars of this transition and how can it serve humanity?

In advanced economies, policymakers have moved into uncharted territory as they rebuild shattered economies and restore jobs. Old orthodoxies about inflation and the role of government have been discarded as trillions of dollars pour into infrastructure, smart cities, and green tech, creating new opportunities for workers and businesses but at the cost of rising debt loads. Has the world found a more dynamic economic paradigm? Or does it all end in soaring inflation and years of sub-par growth?

An outpouring of stimulus is narrowing wealth inequalities within rich countries, but poorer countries with low vaccination rates are falling further behind — and may end up on a permanently lower growth trajectory. A generation of kids in the developing world may never fully catch up on missed classes. Now, rising food and energy prices are exacerbating hunger among the world’s most vulnerable populations. Rich countries should adjust their trade policies to support the emerging world. Meanwhile, there’s an urgent need to finance growth in countries left behind. Will multilateral institutions take the lead by offering risk capital? Will private sector lenders follow?

The enemies of climate action are procrastination and virtue-signalling. To stop global average temperatures rising more than 2 degrees Celsius both businesses and governments must close the gap between long-term net zero goals and near-term plans. How can citizens hold governments to account? How can investors put pressure on companies to invest more in green technologies?

How should the world balance climate ambition and the economic realities faced by emerging economies? The pursuit of net-zero must help to drive growth everywhere, not penalize those in poverty. The task at hand: decoupling economic growth from carbon emissions. Developing nations are often worst affected by climate change; how are they approaching sustainable growth and avoiding climate induced damage to their people and economies? What is required from wealthy countries to help these developing nations with climate related projects and aid in a just transition for their economies. The $100 billion a year pledge made in 2009 has proven inadequate, subject to waste and inefficiency, so what is needed in terms of depth and allocation of climate finance in order to avoid catastrophe?

The climate crisis is reshaping finance. Increasingly, asset managers — and even central banks — are prioritizing the environment. What role will banks, insurers and multilateral lending agencies play in the green transition? How can the public and private sectors work together to mobilize capital to invest in clean technologies at scale, from power generation to smart grids and transport systems?

Rapidly evolving technologies offer new hope for mitigating climate change. Carbon capture & storage is a promising solution, along with green hydrogen and nuclear fusion. Meanwhile, the price of solar and wind have plummeted. Will technological breakthroughs save the planet or will they delay the social, cultural, lifestyle and government policy changes that are needed immediately to avert catastrophe?

In Conversation with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Science has led the global fight against the coronavirus — and demonstrated the potential of genetic material to transform life on the planet. The next half century is likely to see breakthrough progress against genetic disorders like Huntington’s disease, as well as cancer. Can this new science deliver healthcare with equity?

Global healthcare systems are buckling under the strain of rising costs, aging populations and chronic disease. It’s far better to prevent disease than to treat people after they get sick. How can medicine move toward a new model of care? What is the role of revolutionary new technologies like mRNA?

Will the fight against Covid-19 help governments to recognize the importance of pandemic preparedness, or has pandemic fatigue irreparably depleted our global resolve, setting back progress against other types of disease?

The erosion of truth and trust-building among communities is a universal issue our society faces, permeating and stunting progress on addressing life-threatening issues from vaccine hesitancy to climate change. What is the extent of the decomposition of facts vs fiction? How can technology preserve, as opposed to tear, our social fabric? Is regulatory reform efficient and sufficient?

An overarching challenge for the planet: How to feed a booming global population as climate change wreaks havoc with global weather patterns, wringing the soil dry in places and flooding it in others? Pests are proliferating. Farming populations are being driven off the land. The quest for food security requires radical new thinking about the health of the planet.

The master planner of Singapore — responsible for some of the world’s most successful housing  projects — reflects on how the pandemic will change the shape of cities.

Will cities come back? If so, in what form? One lesson from the pandemic is that the most successful cities integrate residential, commercial, cultural and entertainment uses into their downtowns. Another is that city residents all over the world are determined to reclaim their open spaces for outdoor exercise and dining, and offices for housing. The challenge of urban planners, architects and developers is to respond to grassroots pressure for more livable cities that balance work, living and play.

The catastrophic effects of climate change are not evenly distributed: emerging economies and developing nations are the most vulnerable, even though they contributed least to the crisis. Climate justice demands that everybody — regardless of race, color, national origin or income — receives equal protection from environmental harm and risks. Our panel of Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts will explore the meaning of justice through their pioneering work: cleaning up manufacturing supply chains in China, using space-based technologies to improve lives in remote villages; and bringing clean energy to rural Africa.

Trillions of dollars are needed to fund a green transition in emerging markets. At stake is the future of the planet: Emerging economies are where the battle against climate change will be won or lost. Will pressure on corporate leaders force real change? Can a revolution in green finance address hurdles, such as the developed-market standards defining most emerging market bonds, that prevent green debt issuances in emerging markets? Unlocking capital will require enabling policies that help countries meet net zero targets and improve lives and livelihoods from the ground up.

Great power competition is back, threatening to divide the world into U.S. and Chinese spheres of influence just as humanity needs to come together to fight common enemies — global warming, threats to public health, cybercrime. Can Middle Powers and Rising Powers step up and lead? How will Europe act?

Through new partnerships such as the Quad, new defense arrangements such as AUKUS and strengthened military ties to Japan, India and others, the U.S. is finally adding substance to its long-discussed pivot to Asia. Washington says its actions are intended to preserve freedom and prosperity in the region; China says they are driving the world toward a cold and possibly even hot war. How can Asian nations shape the new U.S. strategy to produce what they want above all else: stability?

Great Power competition threatens to disrupt capital flows, investment, and innovation. How can a more bi-polar world fund the investment and technology innovation required to meet 21st Century challenges?

Around the world, regulators are coming after the crypto industry. China has outlawed cryptocurrency mining and declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal. The European Union is creating a licensing framework for crypto issuers and service providers. And in the U.S., SEC chair Gary Gensler wants powers to oversee a sector that he calls the “Wild West.” All this regulatory alarm comes as digital assets explode in popularity. Bitcoin has gone mainstream. The arrival of the Bitcoin ETF in America is a milestone. The newly elected mayor of New York, Eric Adams, said he would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin when he takes over City Hall in January. A showdown is looming. How will it play out? And what are the consequences for digital finance more broadly?