{{Short description|List of environmental and other issues affecting life on Earth}} {{Redirect|Global issues|the global ideology|Globalism}} {{TOC right}}
A '''global issue''' is a matter of public concern worldwide. This '''list of global issues''' presents problems or phenomena affecting people around the world, including but not limited to widespread social issues, economic issues, and environmental issues. Organizations that maintain or have published an official list of global issues include the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum.
== Global catastrophic risks == {{Main|Global catastrophic risk}} Not all of these risks are independent, because the majority, if not all of them are a result of human activity. * Biodiversity loss * Climate change * Destructive artificial intelligence * Environmental disaster * Nuclear holocaust * Pandemic * Biotechnology risk * Molecular nanotechnology * Societal collapse
==United Nations list== The UN has listed issues that it deems to be the most pressing {{as of|2023|lc=yes}}:<ref name="United Nations 2023">{{cite web | title=Global Issues | website=United Nations | url=https://www.un.org/en/global-issues | access-date=13 October 2023}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" ! Category ! Issues ! Relevant UN directives/initiatives |- |Africa || poverty, diseases, desertification, malnutrition, regional conflict, Corruption, Unemployment|| Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, African Union, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur |- |Ageing || ageing population, demographic transition || Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, United Nations Principles for Older Persons, Proclamation on Ageing, International Year of Older Persons |- |AIDS || Prevention of HIV/AIDS, HIV and pregnancy, HIV/AIDS denialism|| Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
|-
|Atomic energy || nuclear weapons, nuclear waste || International Atomic Energy Agency, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty |- |Big data for sustainable development || Applying ICTs to sustainable development || supporting and tracking the Sustainable Development Goals |- |Child and youth safety online || Fighting cyberbullying, online child abuse and human trafficking of children || |- |Children ||Child poverty, Child labour, Child abuse, Child mortality, Global education || Education First, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme, Global Education First Initiative<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/|title=Global Education First Initiative - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|access-date=20 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729080641/http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/|archive-date=29 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- |Climate change || Carbon footprint of the human race, Climate change mitigation || Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, United Nations Climate Change conference |- |Decolonization || exploitation || United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Trust Territories, International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism |- | Democracy || democratization || Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UNDP, UNDEF, DPKO, DPA, OHCHR, UN Women |- |Disarmament || weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons, conventional weapons, landmines and small arms || United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs |- | Ending poverty || Measuring poverty || Sustainable Development Goal #1: No poverty |- |Food || world hunger, sustainable agriculture, food security, safety, food riots || Sustainable Development Goal #2: Zero hunger, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme |- | Gender equality || Women's rights, global feminism || Commission on the Status of Women, Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) |- |Health || maternal health, extreme poverty || Millennium Development Goals |- |Human rights || human rights violations || Universal Declaration of Human Rights |- |International law and justice || war crimes, discrimination, state-corporate crime || International Law Commission, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996), International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (1999), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) |-
| International migration || Human migration|| International Organization for Migration |- |Oceans and the Law of the Sea (cf. Water)||marine pollution, ocean governance || United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter |- |Peace and security || || United Nations peacekeeping, List of United Nations peacekeeping missions, Peacebuilding Commission |- |People with disabilities || discrimination, lack of universal design || Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities |- |Population || overpopulation, world population || UNFPA |- |Refugees (cf. Humanitarian Assistance)|| || United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) |- |Terrorism || || Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism |- |Volunteerism || || United Nations Volunteers |- |Water (cf. Oceans and the Law of the Sea)|| water scarcity, water conflict, water privatization, water pollution || UN-Water, System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water, Water for Life Decade, International Recommendations on Water Statistics, United Nations Water Conference, Millennium Development Goals, International Conference on Water and the Environment (1992), Earth Summit (1992) |}
As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) were superseded by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030), which are also known as The Global Goals. There are associated Targets and Indicators for each Global Goal.
==World Economic Forum List== In keeping with their economy-centered view, the World Economic Forum formulated a list of 10 most pressing points in 2016: <ref name="Hutt Content 2015">{{cite web | last1=Hutt | first1=Rosamond | title=What are the 10 biggest global challenges? | website=World Economic Forum | date=21 January 2016 | url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/what-are-the-10-biggest-global-challenges/ | access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref> #Food security #Inclusive growth #Future of work/unemployment #Climate change #2008 financial crisis #Future of the internet/Fourth Industrial Revolution #Gender equality #Global trade and investment and regulatory frameworks #Long-term investment/Investment strategy #Future healthcare {{see also|sustainable growth|green economy|global recession|International Monetary Fund|World Trade Organization}}
== Global environmental issues== {{main|List of environmental issues}} No single issue can be analysed, treated, or isolated from the others.<ref>{{Cite web| title=The major global issues are all interconnected and should be studied that way! | url=http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/issues/global/major-global-issues-diagram-lg.jpg | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403003459/http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/issues/global/major-global-issues-diagram-lg.jpg | archive-date=2012-04-03}}</ref> For example, habitat loss and climate change adversely affect biodiversity. Deforestation and pollution are direct consequences of overpopulation and both, in turn, affect biodiversity. While overpopulation locally leads to rural flight, this is more than counterbalanced by accelerating urbanization and urban sprawl. Theories like the world-system theory and the Gaia hypothesis focus on the inter-dependency aspect of environmental and economic issues. Among the most evident environmental problems are:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/15-current-environmental-problems.php|title=15 Current Environmental Problems That Our World is Facing - Conserve Energy Future|last=Rinkesh|date=27 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://inhabitat.com/why-we-need-earth-day-7-most-pressing-environmental-problems-we-need-to-solve/|title=The World's 6 Most Pressing Environmental Issues|date=22 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrdc.org/about|title=About NRDC|website=www.nrdc.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalissues.org/issue/168/environmental-issues|title=Environmental Issues — Global Issues|date=2 February 2015 }}</ref>
*Overconsumption – situation where resource use has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem. *Overpopulation – too many people for the planet to sustain. *Biodiversity loss *Food waste *Deforestation *Desertification *Global warming/climate change *Habitat destruction *Soil degradation *Holocene extinction *Ocean acidification *Ozone depletion *Pollution **Waste and waste disposal **Water pollution **Air pollution *Resource depletion *Urban sprawl
{{see also|Zero population growth|Green economy}}
==See also== {{portal|border=no|Politics|Society|World}} {{columns-list|colwidth=15em| *{{annotated link|Sustainable Development Goals}} *{{annotated link|Antimicrobial resistance}} *{{annotated link|Center for Global Food Issues}} *{{annotated link|Chicago Council on Global Affairs}} *{{annotated link|Climate change}} *{{annotated link|Cybersecurity}} *{{annotated link|Developing country}} *{{annotated link|Earth Economics}} *{{annotated link|Earth system science}} *{{annotated link|Ecological footprint}} *{{annotated link|Ecological collapse}} *{{annotated link|Ecosystem collapse}} *{{annotated link|Effective altruism}} *{{annotated link|Energy crisis}} *{{annotated link|Environmental social science}} *{{annotated link|Financial crisis}} *{{annotated link|Global catastrophic risk}} *{{annotated link|Global Challenges Foundation}} *{{annotated link|Global change}} *{{annotated link|Global governance}} *{{annotated link|Global health}} *{{annotated link|Global justice}} *{{annotated link|Global Rights}} *{{annotated link|Global warming controversy}} *{{annotated link|Human impact on the environment}} *{{annotated link|Human security}} *{{annotated link|Intergovernmental organization}} *{{annotated link|List of United Nations peacekeeping missions}} *{{annotated link|Liu Institute for Global Issues}} *{{annotated link|Mass surveillance}} *{{annotated link|Multilateralism}} *{{annotated link|Ozone depletion and climate change}} *{{annotated link|Pandemic}} *{{annotated link|Peak oil}} *{{annotated link|Social justice}} *{{annotated link|Species extinction}} *{{annotated link|Washington consensus}} *{{annotated link|Wicked problem}} *{{annotated link|World Community Grid}} *{{annotated link|WorldRiskReport}} *{{annotated link|World-systems theory}} *{{annotated link|World War}} *{{annotated link|Crime}} }}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Literature== *{{cite book |title=Global Issues |author=John L. Seitz, Kristen A. Hite |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |edition=4 |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLtrTw5UMYC |isbn=978-0-470-65564-1}} *{{cite book |title=Global Issues |edition= 4th |author=Richard J. Payne |publisher=Pearson |year=2012 |isbn=978-0205854592 }} *{{cite book |title=Introducing Global Issues |edition=5th |editor=Michael T. Snarr, D. Neil Snarr |publisher=Lynne Rienner Pub |year=2012 |isbn=978-1588268457 }} *{{cite book |title=Global Issues: A Cross-Cultural Perspective Paperback |year=2013 |author=Shirley A. Fedorak |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1442605961 }} *''Global Education Magazine'' *''Global Environmental Politics''
==External links== {{Sisterlinks}} {{Commons category|Globalization issues}}
*[https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/ The UN's Global Issues page] *{{Cite web|url=https://www.sll.la.psu.edu/think-global/learn-more-about-global-issues|title=Think Global: Learn More About Global Issues|website=dus.psu.edu|language=en|access-date=31 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=Global issues | website=TED.com | date=11 May 2016 | url=https://www.ted.com/topics/global+issues | ref={{sfnref | TED.com | 2016}} | access-date=18 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=Global Issues | website=TakingITGlobal | url=https://www.tigweb.org/global-issues/ | ref={{sfnref | TakingITGlobal}} | access-date=18 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=Global Issues : social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all | website=Global Issues | date=24 September 2011 | url=http://globalissues.org | ref={{sfnref | Global Issues | 2011}} | access-date=18 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=Global Issues Network | website=Global Issues Network | date=28 March 2013 | url=http://globalissuesnetwork.org | ref={{sfnref | Global Issues Network | 2013}} | access-date=18 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=Issues of resilience, interdependence and growth affect global climate change risk | website=Carbon Brief | date=20 February 2014 | url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/issues-of-resilience-interdependence-and-growth-affect-global-climate-change-risk | ref={{sfnref | Carbon Brief | 2014}} | access-date=18 January 2018}} *{{cite web | title=A list of the most urgent global issues | website=80,000 Hours | date=30 April 2017 | url=https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/ | ref={{sfnref | 80,000 Hours | 2017}} | access-date=6 June 2018}}
{{Human impact on the environment}}
Category:Global issues Category:Global inequality Global