essay on we can change the world

climate change

How ‘Urgent Optimism’ Can Save the World

I used to think optimists were naive and pessimists were smart. Pessimism seemed like an essential feature of being a scientist: the basis of science is to challenge every result, to pick theories apart to see which ones stand up. I thought cynicism was one of its founding principles. Maybe there is some truth to that. But science is inherently optimistic too. How else would we describe the willingness to try experiments over and over, often with slim odds of success?

Scientific progress can be frustratingly slow: the best minds can dedicate their entire lives to a single question and come away with nothing. They do so with the hope that a breakthrough might be round the corner. It’s unlikely they will be the person to discover it, but there’s a chance. Those odds drop to zero if they give up.

Nevertheless, pessimism still sounds intelligent and optimism dumb. I often feel embarrassed to admit that I’m an optimist. I imagine it knocks me down a peg or two in people’s estimations. But the world desperately needs more optimism. The problem is that people mistake optimism for “blind optimism,” the unfounded faith that things will just get better. Blind optimism really is dumb. And dangerous. If we sit back and do nothing, things will not turn out fine. That’s not the kind of optimism that I’m talking about.

Optimism is seeing challenges as opportunities to make progress; it’s having the confidence that there are things we can do to make a diﬀerence. We can shape the future, and we can build a great one if we want to. The economist Paul Romer makes this distinction nicely. He separates “complacent optimism” from “conditional optimism.” “Complacent optimism is the feeling of a child waiting for presents,” Romer wrote. “Conditional optimism is the feeling of a child who is thinking about building a treehouse. ‘If I get some wood and nails and persuade some other kids to help do the work, we can end up with something really cool.’”

I’ve heard various other terms for this “conditional” or eﬀective optimism: “urgent optimism,” “pragmatic optimism,” “realistic optimism,” “impatient optimism.” All these terms are grounded in inspiration and action.

Read More: 13 Ways the World Got Better in 2023

The reason pessimists often sound smart is that they can avoid being “wrong” by moving the goalposts. When a doomer predicts that the world will end in five years, and it doesn’t, they just move the date. The American biologist Paul R. Ehrlich—author of the 1968 book The Population Bomb —has been doing this for decades. In 1970 he said that “sometime in the next 15 years, the end will come. And by ‘the end” I mean an utter breakdown of the capacity of the planet to support humanity.” Of course, that was woefully wrong. He had another go: he said that “England will not exist in the year 2000.” Wrong again. Ehrlich will keep pushing this deadline back. A pessimistic stance is a safe one.

Don’t mistake criticism for pessimism. Criticism is essential for an eﬀective optimist. We need to work through ideas to find the most promising ones. Most innovators that have changed the world have been optimists, even if they didn’t identify as one. But they were also fiercely critical: no one picks apart the ideas of Thomas Edison, Alexander Fleming, Marie Curie, or Norman Borlaug more than they did themselves.

In particular, if we want to get serious about tackling the world’s environmental problems, we need to be more optimistic. We need to believe that it is possible to tackle them. And if we do, we can be the first generation to achieve a sustainable world.

More From TIME

The Last Generation is an activist group in Germany, the name implying that our unsustainability will push us to extinction. To force their government into action, some of the group went on a month-long hunger strike in August 2021. It wasn’t a half-hearted eﬀort: several ended up in hospital. They’re not the only ones who feel this way. The global environmental group Extinction Rebellion is also founded on this principle. And the studies show that the notion of us being the ‘last generation’ isn’t far from the minds of many young people.

But I’d like to take the opposite framing. I don’t think we’re going to be the last generation. The evidence points to the opposite. I think we could be the first generation. We have the opportunity to be the first generation that leaves the environment in a better state than we found it. The first generation in human history to achieve sustainability.

Read more: We Need Climate Action Everywhere, All at Once

Yes, that seems hard to believe. I’ll explain why. Here I’m using the term “generation” loosely. I am from a generation that will be defined by our environmental problems. I was a child when climate change really came on the radar. Most of my adulthood will be spent in the midst of the major energy transition. I will see countries move from being almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels to being free of them. I will be 57 when governments hit the “2050 deadline” of reaching net-zero carbon emissions that so many have promised.

But, of course, there will be several generations involved in this project. There are a couple above me—my parents and grandparents—and a couple below me, my future children (and perhaps grandchildren). Generations are often pitted against each other: older generations are blamed for ruining the planet; younger generations are framed as hysterical and indignant. When it comes down to it, though, most of us want to build a better world, where our children and grandchildren can thrive. And we all need to work together to achieve that. All of us will be involved in this transformation.

Urgent optimism isn’t about looking away from the climate crisis that faces us. It’s about facing up to it, not from a place of ‘damage limitation’ but with a clear vision of the future we can build. One that not only stops warming in its tracks but builds a better world for us – all of us – and the species that we share the planet with.

That’s not going to happen on its own. It’s something we need to fight for.

Excerpted from NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Hannah Ritchie. Copyright © 2024 by Hannah Ritchie. Used with permission by Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. All Rights Reserved.

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Essays About Change: Top 5 Examples and 10 Prompts

If you are writing essays about change, see below our best essay examples and writing prompts to help expand your horizon on this topic.

The only thing constant is change. It could be good or bad. It could be short-term or have a lasting impact. The best we can do is to ride on this inevitable and never-ending cycle of change and try coming out of it still standing, thriving, and smiling. This ability to cope with change is called resilience.

However, some changes – such as the loss of a loved one or a livelihood — are too overwhelming to deal with that some fall into trauma and depression, in which case psychological support is highly encouraged. Read on to see our round-up of rich, well-written essays about change, and a list of helpful prompts follows to help you start your essay.

1. “The Psychology Of Dealing With Change: How To Become Resilient” by Kathleen Smith

2. how prison changes people by christian jarrett, 3. six ways the workplace will change in the next 10 years by jordan turner, 4. “social movements for good: what they are and how to lead them” by derrick feldman, 5. “the right way to make a big career transition” by utkarsh amitabh, 1. changing your lifestyle for the better, 2. be the change the world needs, 3. adapting to life-changing events, 4. addressing climate change, 5. how did technology change our daily lives, 6. people who changed the world, 7. if you could change the world, 8. dealing with resistance to change, 9. coming-of-age novels, 10. changing your eating habits.

“If you can learn to cope with change, you’ll lower your risk for anxiety and depression. Your relationships will flourish, and your body will feel healthier. But if you can’t cope with change, only a minor amount of stress can make you feel overwhelmed by life. You might also struggle to set and meet the goals you have for yourself.”

Instead of fixating on events and people over which we do not have the power to control, we should focus on ourselves and how we can embrace change without fear. Some tips in this essay include practicing self-care, being in the present, and focusing on your priorities, such as health and well-being.

Check out these essays about being grateful and essays about heroes .

“Ultimately, society may be confronted with a choice. We can punish offenders more severely and risk changing them for the worse, or we can design sentencing rules and prisons in a way that helps offenders rehabilitate and change for the better.”

In an environment where you are forced to follow the rules to the letter and worry about your safety and privacy daily, prisoners could develop a kind of “perpetual paranoia” or “emotional numbing” and deteriorate cognitive abilities. The essay suggests a rethink in how we deal with law-breakers to encourage reform rather than punish and risk repeat offenses.

Check out these essays about police brutality and essays about assessment .

“As technology closes the divide between geographically separate people, it introduces cracks in relationships and cultures. The remote distribution of work means that many employees will not build the same social relationships in the workplace, leading to issues of disengagement and loneliness.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted our way of work in our new normal, but more changes are yet to unfold. This essay looks into the future of work where responsibilities and demands will see a sea change; machines will be co-workers; and the best employee is defined by digital skills, not years of experience.

You might also like these essays about cinema and essays about jealousy .

“Social movements for good establish a mass platform of action for a population, which helps inform and cultivate the awareness necessary to help prevent an issue from affecting more people. True social movements for good have the power to generate awareness that produces tangible results, helping the general population live longer, more productive, happier lives.”

A social movement for good aims to bring social justice to an aggrieved community by calling for tangible support and resources. To accelerate a movement’s momentum, an effective leader must possess certain qualities in this essay.

“There were so many questions running through my head during this time. Why should I quit to make this my full-time job? Is this what I really want? When should I quit? Poet Mary Oliver’s words kept ringing in my head: ‘What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’”

Deciding on a career change is more complex than deciding whether you want to do something different. A career shift entails lifestyle, mindset, and motivation changes, each of which has to be carefully reassessed and prepared for. This essay guides you in deciding when or why it is right to leave your job.

10 Interesting Writing Prompts on Essays About Change

Below are thought-stimulating prompts to help with your essay:

Committing to regular exercise or getting to bed earlier may be easier said than done. Moreover, the determination that was burning at the start of your lifestyle change journey may wane in the latter part when things get tough. So, for your essay, provide practical tips from wellness experts and your own experience on how to sustain a routine toward a better lifestyle. You can split your essay into sections for each health and wellness tip you recommend.

This is the gist of the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Unfortunately, many of us get frustrated over people refusing to change but fail to see how this change should start with our perception and action. In this essay, write about what an individual can do to focus more on self-improvement and development.

Have you ever faced a situation where you had to adapt to a drastic change? It could be moving to a different city or school or dealing with losing a loved one. Share your experience and list the traits and practices that helped you through this challenging phase. You may also research what psychologists recommend people to do to keep from falling into depression or developing anxiety.

To offer a unique highlight in your essay, tackle what your school or community is doing to fight global warming. Interview city councilors and mayors and learn about ongoing initiatives to keep the city clean and green. So this essay could help entice others in your community to work together and volunteer in initiatives to slow climate change.

List down the advantages and disadvantages technology has presented in your life. For example, seeking clarification from teachers about an assignment has been made easier with the many communication channels available. However, technology has also enabled a work-at-home or distance learning arrangement that is causing burnout in many households.

Feature a person who has revolutionized the world. It could be a scientist, artist, activist, writer, economist, athlete, etc. Preferably, it is someone you idolize, so you do not have to start from scratch in your research. So first, provide a short profile of this person to show his life and career background. Then, write about their ultimate contribution to society and how this continues to benefit or inspire many.

If there’s one thing you could change in this world, what would it be? This sounds like a question you’d hear in pageants, but it could be a creative way to lay down your life advocacy. So, explain why this is where you want to see change and how this change can improve others’ lives.

Resistance to change is most common when companies modernize, and the dinosaurs in the office refuse to learn new digital platforms or systems. Write about what you think leaders and human resource units should do to help employees cope with changes in the new normal.

A coming-of-age novel tells stories of protagonists who grow up and undergo character transformation. From being eaten up by their fears, the main heroes become braver and better at confronting a world that once intimidated them. For this prompt, share your favorite coming-of-age novel and narrate the changes in the hero’s qualities and beliefs.

Delivering fast food has become so easy that, for many, it has become a way of life, making it an enormous challenge to replace this practice with healthy eating habits. So, research and write about nutritionists’ tips on creating a lifestyle and environment conducive to healthy eating habits.

If you’re still stuck picking an essay topic, check out our guide on how to write essays about depression . For more ideas, you can check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Issues — The Power of Change: How You Can Change the World

The Power of Change: How You Can Change The World

Categories: Animal Cruelty Change Environmental Issues

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Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 1116 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

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If I Could Change the World Essay: Examples & Writing Guide

To write an engaging “If I Could Change the World” essay, you have to get a few crucial elements:

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What? How? Whom? When? Where?
The essay structure that determines where each answer should be;
Some tips that can make your writing unique and original.

Let us help you a bit and give recommendations for “If I Could Change the World” essays with examples. And bookmark our writing company website for excellent academic assistance and study advice.

🗯 What Would You Change?
💁‍♂️ How Would You Do It?

👉 Whom Would Your Changes Affect?

⏱️ when would you change the world, 🌎 where would you make changes, 📦 out-of-the-box thinking, 🤔 deep understanding, 🧠 an intelligible structure, 🗣️ excellent language.

📝 Essay Example

✏️ Change the World Essay FAQ

🔗 references, 💡 if i could change the world essay: essential questions.

What do you think about the world we are all living in? The vast majority of people love their lives, being human, and living on the Earth. They may have no time to think about the world around them or notice that this world requires changes.

And do you have time to notice this? Do you believe that our world is no longer the best and safest place to live in? If you do and have some suggestions on how our world can be changed, you can write a good “If I Could Change the World” essay.

Start crafting your paper by considering these questions:

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

If I could change the world essay questions.

Answering them will boost your imagination and help with outlining your essay. Besides, you may find something new about yourself and your mind.

🗯 If You Could Change the World, What Would You Change?

What do I want to change in the world? Start this essay with those particular things that you believe require fixing. We are sure you will not have difficulties with this point because the problems we face these days seem endless.

We’ve gotten used to having such problems, and many people are sure that nothing can ever change. But what if millions of people became more conscious and decided to make even a minor effort to solve just one problem? In that case, we would already live in a better place.

For example:

Why not mention global warming or air pollution? There are plenty of problems common to humanity that require our intervention, so essay writing about global issues is also a great opportunity to narrow down your topic.

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Use your imagination and describe your great ideas in your essay about changing the world for better. You could build up a fantastic paper—or maybe even change the world.

💁‍♂️ How Would You Change the World?

What ways do you think would be the most effective to make necessary changes? Whose help might you need? You have to speculate, “How can I change the world?” for the essay.

You’ll have to use your imagination here again:

Delve deeper into the topic. List the ways, methods, or strategies you’d utilize to help the world we live in.
Make a list of these people or organizations.
Explain how they could contribute to achieving your aim.

For instance, you could consider involving global charities or celebrities to assist you on your path to a better world.

Would your changes influence society in the world? Or some particular groups of people would need them more than all the others?

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

This is another exciting idea that you could develop in your essay. Give insight into whose lives your actions would change. For example, you could think of improving the lives of poor, hungry children in Africa or helping animals suffering from global warming.

Do you think that the problems you are talking about require immediate solutions? There are issues worldwide that can’t wait any longer and need to be changed urgently.

Why not discuss them?

Here’s an idea: Bring up a topic related to a pressing global health issue. For example, focus your main point on incurable diseases or infectious diseases that annually kill more than 17 million people .

In what part of the world would you change something?

It’s essential to touch on the location of your global changes. Are you audacious enough to implement your great ideas worldwide? Or would you be better off starting in a small area and eventually growing it into something on a larger scale?

Consider these ideas as well, and don’t forget to mention the location in your paper.

You can also read our article on world peace to learn more about current problems and issues that require changes.

✒️ If I Could Change the World Essay: Writing Guide

What are the criteria that guide your professor when evaluating your “If I Could Change the World” essay? Are there any one-size-fits-all characteristics you can safely incorporate to end up with a breathtaking paper?

There are! And knowing them will help you write more convincing essays that earn better grades.

Representing your original thinking as an author doesn’t mean that you have to invent something new or discover some unknown theory. Not to discourage you, but chances of doing that are pretty small.

Try writing a “changing the world” essay different from other students’ papers because of its original approach . You could look at things from an unusual angle or come up with a new hypothesis. Even the purpose of your writing can differ if you add creativity.

Your “If I Could Change the World” essay topic is a platform for unlimited imagination and original thinking. Go ahead and make the most of it!

A perfect essay about the world’s problems—just like any other essay—shows in-depth knowledge. Demonstrate the comprehension of all the facts, concepts, and issues you’re talking about. You also need to clearly understand why these ideas matter, both to you and your reader.

To end up with a fantastic “changing the world” essay, you should do the following:

Craft and polish a persuasive thesis, stating your position clearly.
Find credible sources to add quotes and value to your writing.
Use engaging, relevant facts for your arguments and central hypothesis.
Consider and analyze different viewpoints.
Summarize and synthesize data from various sources.
Double-check information that you’re uncertain about.
Write a reference list at the bottom of your essay.

Don’t forget to analyze and consider all points of view and include quotations from reputable sources.

The first and foremost thing to bear in mind when outlining your essay is that it should answer the following three questions:

Also, a high-quality essay contains all of the necessary parts of an academic paper:

Introduction : Starts with a hook that grabs the reader’s attention. Directs the reader, identifies the focus, and provides the context of the issue. Most importantly, it includes a thesis statement. If you struggle with this part, try to make use of a thesis statement generator .
Main body : Provides the argumentation for your thesis and supporting details. Includes quotes and other data that you’ve gathered. Every paragraph starts with a topic sentence and ends with a concluding one, tying the text together.
Conclusion : Restates and develops the thesis and summarizes the arguments. Gives the last impression on the reader, leaving the final thoughts in the concluding sentences. May include a call for action.

Your “If I Could Change the World” essay should have a consistent discussion and a balanced argument. Relevant facts and data should support all the points. The conclusion weighs your evidence and provides your final opinion about the paper’s central idea.

Your discussion should be smooth and effortless so that your readers feel like they are in safe hands. The sentences should be flowing naturally and logically from one to the other. The reader should understand everything from the first read. Do not deviate from your topic, or else the focus of your essay will be lost.

You should strive for flawless grammar, spelling, and punctuation, without mistakes or typos. To ensure its flawlessness, proofread your paper or ask someone to do it for you.

If I Could Change the World: Essay Topics

Can one person change the world?
What can we do to eliminate the global violence?
How I would change animal rights and welfare laws .
Helping homeless people is a critical task for humanity.
Becoming a social service assistant is the best way to change the world.
Creativity can change the world and make it a better place to live in.
If I could change the world, I would destroy nuclear weapons.
Can courage change the world when the cost is so great?
We need to stop climate change to save the world.
What I can do to save the world from global warming .
The things I would do to eliminate gaming addiction from the world.
I would save the Earth from destruction by making hanges in an energy crisis.
Why we should pay more attention to the overpopulation problem .
Fighting inflation and unemployment is a way to change the world.
What I can do today to help integration of children with special needs .
Elimination of smoking will change the population’s health for the better.
If we want to save the Earth, we should reduce air polution .
The best career choice to change the world.
If I could change the world, I would improve the humanity and nature relationship .
The most important thing I would change about this world is the disease prevention level .
Combat the growing trend of obesity to improve health in the community.
Should we ban consumable plastics to save oceans wildlife?
Using electric vehicles instead of gas cars will improve people’s life quality.
Removing domestic violence and abuse is the thing I would do to change the world.
What I would change to create an ideal society .
Becoming a teacher is my way of improving schooling for young learners .
How I would change the economic situation in modern Latin America.
My plans on banning experiments on animals .
Preparing effective tools to change the children’s world.
We need to change the system to remove health disparities .
What I would do to change the situation with alcohol abuse in the world.
Racism is the global issue that requires an immediate change.
The things that can be done to change the level of substance abuse among adolescents.
If I could change the world, I would remove gender inequality from it.
The solution to social problems within educational institutions is the change we should make in this world.
What changes can we make to overcome the world poverty?
Why it’s important to resolve the global water crisis .
The solution of immigrant problems is a step towards a better society.
How eliminating corruption will make this world better.
What can I do to help resolve the problems of older adults ?
Lowering crime rates will change the world.
How I would change the situation with indigenous Australians.
Preventing and curing breast cancer is one of the greatest concerns in modern society.
What can we do to prevent disease outbreaks?
Why the problem of school violence requires our immediate attention.
How I would change the food distribution to combat the issue of world hunger .
Why we should promote renewable energy sources.
Terrorism is the most urgent problem in modern society.
What would I do to change the situation with school bullying?
What should we change in the world to resolve the problems of LGBT people?

📝 If I Could Change the World: Essay Example

In this section, you’ll find an essay example on the topic. The downloadable PDF version is under the preview. Hope it will inspire you to write your own If I Could Change the World essay!

If I Could Change the World: Pros and Cons (Essay Example)

The idea of having a tremendous influence on the course of the world history is rather tempting since it implies huge power and the availability of any resource possible. Thus, the possibility of changing the world might be perceived solely as a positive concept at first. However, without the ability to encompass and understand the global implications of the changes that I would make, I would take the actions that would most likely result in the suffering of multiple people, which is why the described scenario is highly undesirable.

Now that you know a little more, it’s easy to come up with even more “If I Could Change the World” essay topics. Just think about them carefully or surf the web for some inspiration.

Thank you for reading till the end! Leave your comment in the section below. Share the article with friends who also have to write an “If I Could Change the World” essay.

Essay on Change The World

Students are often asked to write an essay on Change The World in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Change The World

What it means to change the world.

To change the world means to make it better for everyone. It can be big, like stopping climate change, or small, like helping a friend. It’s about making a positive difference.

Starting Small

Big changes start with small steps. Picking up litter, being kind, and learning new things can all add to a better world. Everyone can do something good every day.

Working Together

No one can change the world alone. When people join hands for a good cause, they can do great things. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Using Creativity

Thinking of new ways to solve problems is important. Being creative can lead to amazing changes and a brighter future for all.

250 Words Essay on Change The World

What does it mean to change the world.

When we talk about changing the world, it means making it a better place. This can be done in many ways, big or small. It’s not just about big actions; even small ones can make a big difference. Imagine if everyone did one kind thing each day, the world would be a much happier place.

Starting with Yourself

The first step is to start with yourself. Be kind, learn new things, and help others. When you become the best version of yourself, you inspire others to do the same. It’s like a chain reaction. Your good actions can encourage your friends and family to spread kindness too.

Helping Others

Helping others is a powerful way to change the world. This can be as simple as sharing your lunch with a friend who forgot theirs or helping an elderly neighbor with their groceries. When you help someone, you make their day better, and they might help someone else in return.

Protecting Our Planet

Our planet needs us to take care of it. You can help by recycling, turning off lights when you leave a room, and using less water. If everyone does their part, we can keep our Earth clean and healthy.

Changing the world might seem like a huge task, but it starts with each one of us. By being kind, helping others, and taking care of our planet, we can make a big impact. Remember, even the smallest act of kindness can change someone’s world. So, let’s all try to do our part and make the world a better place for everyone.

500 Words Essay on Change The World

When we talk about changing the world, it means making it a better place for everyone. It’s like when you clean your room so it looks nicer and feels better to be in. Changing the world can be big things, like making sure everyone has food and a home, or small things, like being kind to a friend.

Starting with Small Steps

You don’t need to be a grown-up or have lots of money to start changing the world. Even as a kid, you can do many things. For example, if you see someone sitting alone at lunch, you can sit with them and talk. That small act can make their day better. You can also help at home by recycling. When you recycle, you help keep the Earth clean.

Learning and Sharing Knowledge

Going to school and learning new things is a big part of making the world better. When you learn, you can share what you know with others. If you learn about plants, you can teach your family how to grow a garden. This helps the air stay clean because plants make oxygen.

Being Kind to Others

Kindness is a superpower. When you are nice to other people, it makes them happy. They might then be kind to someone else. It’s like a chain of happiness that keeps growing. So, always try to share, help others, and use kind words.

Using Technology Wisely

Technology, like computers and phones, can help change the world too. You can use them to learn new things and talk to people far away. But it’s important to use them in a good way. Don’t say mean things online, and make sure to spend time playing outside too.

Our planet is our home, and we need to take care of it. You can save water by turning off the tap while brushing your teeth. You can also remind adults to use less plastic. Every little bit helps our Earth.

Change is easier when we all work together. If you and your friends pick up trash at the park, you can make it clean for everyone. If everyone does a little bit, it adds up to a lot.

Believing in Yourself

To change the world, you have to believe that you can. Every big person who changed the world started as a kid with a dream. So, dream big and believe that you can make a difference.

Changing the world might sound like a huge job, but it’s made of many small acts. Remember, whether it’s being kind, learning, or taking care of our planet, every little thing you do can help. So start with one small step, and you might be surprised at how far it goes.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Change Your Life
Essay on Change For The Better
Essay on Challenges In Life

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

17 ways technology could change the world by 2027

Each year, the Forum recognizes a new cohort of Technology Pioneers and incorporates them into its initiatives, activities, and events. Image: Pexels/Pixabay

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Innovation is critical to the future well-being of society and to driving economic growth.
The World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer community is composed of early to growth-stage companies from around the world involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations.
Each year, the Forum recognizes a new cohort of Technology Pioneers and incorporates them into its initiatives, activities, and events.

Innovation is critical to the future well-being of society and to driving economic growth, both of which are key priority areas for the World Economic Forum. To support these two pillars, the Forum launched its Technology Pioneer community in the year 2000.

The community is composed of early- to growth-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and poised to have a significant impact on business and society.

The programme aims to give next-generation innovators a voice in solving global issues and the opportunity to contribute to the exploration of future trends. Each year, the Forum recognizes a new cohort of Technology Pioneers and incorporates them into its initiatives, activities, and events.

We asked our 2022 cohort for their views on how technology will change the world in the next five years. From maturing of advanced technologies such as Web3 and quantum, to managing flexible grids and on-demand manufacturing, here are their predictions for our near-term future.

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How technology pioneers are shaping the future of production, 8 technology trends for innovative leaders in a post-pandemic world, meet the world economic forum's technology pioneers of 2022, ‘credit will become accessible to those ignored by traditional financial institutions’.

Madhav Krishna, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vahan

With an explosion in internet penetration across the world accompanied by the proliferation of digital labour marketplaces or platforms, 'gig-work' is going to become the predominant mode of work. This shift has larger ramifications for low-skilled/blue-collar workers who usually comprise more than 80% of the workforce in developing countries. Internet platforms in e-commerce, food delivery, ride-sharing, logistics and so on have low barriers to entry and are creating a wealth of earning opportunities in countries where there aren't enough jobs for low-skilled populations. Workers can engage with many platforms in parallel and maximize their earnings. Soon, digital labour marketplaces will embed financial services into their products which will make credit accessible for many people who are ignored by traditional financial institutions. Over time, technology will enable financial stability and discipline without the need for people to gain relevant knowledge. AI and machine learning advisors will become ubiquitous, constantly recommending the next gig, next investment or next online class to us, truly democratizing growth and financial wellbeing.

‘Web3 technologies will revolutionize the world of commerce’

Justin Banon, Co-Founder, Boson Protocol

By 2025, Web3 technologies will have revolutionized the world of commerce, in much the same way that Web2 transformed access to information. Physical and digital (phygital?) ‘things’ will be listed and traded on an open, liquid, digital market. In the early days of the internet, information was mostly siloed within proprietary online networks. However, the zero marginal cost of distribution, combined with consumer demand, led to the single, searchable, open internet of information we enjoy today. Understandably, commerce has taken longer to make the leap. With the exchange of physical assets, the need to manage counterparties’ risk, mediate disputes and ensure settlement, requires trust. This trust is vested in either trusted intermediaries or trusted sellers. Consequently, e-commerce transactions are mostly siloed within one of many, closed, proprietary systems. The advent of Web3 technology enables the automation of settlement by smart contracts and the tokenisation of physical asset commerce transactions into a universal standard such as NFTs. Just as decentralized finance’s ‘money lego’ applications have begun to unbundle traditional finance, an ecosystem of decentralized ‘commerce lego’ protocols and applications will evolve to create an open marketplace for things, where everyone can share in the value they create.

‘The data industry will become more inclusive and affordable’

Christine Qi, Chief Executive Officer, Databento

The amount of information - or data - about our universe and about ourselves, has grown exponentially over the past decade. But with enormous growth comes an array of issues: data privacy, management, access, and affordability are some of the biggest areas of debate amongst citizens and leaders alike. Who owns my data? Is my phone spying on me? How much money are companies making from it? These questions are becoming increasingly pertinent as companies continue to collect our data, whether we pay them or not, and with or without our permission. Issues also persist in industries like finance. Why am I paying a fortune for market data? In the next few years, so long as governments allow it, we'll see technology in the data industry become more inclusive and affordable as startups enter the space.

‘In the future, our focus will be on the human experience’

Isaac Castro, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Emerge

By 2027, we'll look back at our current digital interactions the same way we see our carbon emissions today. Social media has exposed the perils of technology designed without humans at the centre, and its harmful effects on our mental health and emotional wellness. We're missing what we removed from our interactions a decade ago: humanity, intimacy, depth, and empathy. Real conversations instead of mass influence. Interactions that make us feel closer to each other. In the future, our focus will be on the human experience . The transition to the metaverse will be not a technological but a sociological paradigm shift. The metaverse will be shaped by the communication of our emotions, enabled by technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, and brain-computer interfaces. New hardware, platforms, disciplines, and senses will come into play. We'll redefine social contracts in the virtual world, where emotion, trust, and safety become our most important currencies. We'll decentralize the platform experience in favour of the human being. We'll give our daughter a soothing caress from across the ocean. We'll hold the hand of our grandmother who has passed away. We'll treasure those meaningful moments. Our interactions with others will be centred on our human experience.

' Battery powered construction will underpin sustainability efforts ’

Brandon Ng, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ampd Energy

The construction industry accounts for almost 40% of global CO2 emissions and much of this is driven by the urbanisation of humanity. Fossil fuels continue to power construction projects, resulting in around half a billion tonnes of CO2 emitted each year. Noise and exhaust fumes from fossil fuel use also negatively affect worker health and local air quality. This is rapidly changing. The industry is adopting battery energy storage systems (ESSs) tailored for construction sites that reduce carbon emissions by 80%–the remaining 20% is the carbon of electricity used to recharge the ESSs. The electrification of mobile construction machinery is also making giant strides towards commercialisation. All of this is driven by advances in lithium-ion battery technology. Looking into the future, long-duration ESSs–which only need recharging weekly, monthly or longer–make off-site recharging from solar or wind farms a real possibility. The world is still figuring out the right technology base for long-duration ESSs, but there are multiple options: flow batteries, non-lithium-ion non-flow batteries, gravity-based ESSs, heat-based ESSs and hydrogen–and a winner, or winners are sure to emerge. In short, the future for how we build cities is charged with potential.

‘Building will dynamically respond and adjust to support human wellness and comfort’

Francois Amman, Co-President and Co-Founder, Akila

90% of life is spent indoors and 50% of carbon emissions are created by buildings. Their impact is simply massive; so is the volume of building data that could be harnessed for better outcomes on people and planet. Today, we see buildings becoming smart and automated through increasingly cost-effective sensors and control points. Properly connected smart buildings can react to dynamics like equipment status, space occupancy, weather and more, using AI to optimize for best impact. Most building systems are still manually controlled, but in coming years, we'll see this status quo totally upended. Building will dynamically respond and adjust to support human wellness and comfort; minimize carbon emissions; and include building-to-building interoperability enabling true metaverse applications for the built environment. Driving this change will be a fundamental transformation in the construction industry; the emergence of digital twin and 5G/6G technology as key tools enabling new ways of assessing and optimizing value over the building lifecycle from design to construction into operations; and growing understanding of energy as a not just a direct cost to portfolio holders, but also a liability for those who cannot keep up with new regulatory and ESG frameworks.

‘Grid flexibility will phase out fossil fuels and jumpstart the clean energy transition’

Thomas Folker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Leap

One pressing challenge that lies on the road to a clean-energy future is grid flexibility, and the need for more dynamic interaction between energy supply and demand. As we incorporate more intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar into the power mix, flexible load will be crucial to ensure that the grid can always meet demand. Unlocking a significantly more digitized, decarbonized and resource efficient future by 2025 will be made possible by market-driven software solutions that allow smart energy technologies, such as EV chargers and heat pumps, to respond to real-time grid requirements in targeted areas, optimizing the asset owner's earnings as well as supporting the electric grid when it needs it most. When aggregated together, these distributed energy resources can collectively offer the flexibility needed to phase out polluting fossil fuel-powered peaker plants and jumpstart the transition to the clean energy future.

‘People will eat more nourishing food’

Edwin O. Rogers, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Bonumose

Though nourishing, tasty food should be available to wealthy and poor alike, too often there is a great gulf between the “is” and the “should.” But there is nothing inherent in capitalism or the profit motive that demands the divergence. Good news is in the wind: thanks in part to new processing methods for healthy sugar or salt alternatives, good food will become an accessible, ubiquitous option for all consumers. People will eat more nourishing food even if in some cases they do not realize it – because cost and taste will be at par with less healthy, legacy foods. In the best of cases, production assets for questionable food ingredients (e.g., high-fructose corn syrup) will be redeployed for healthy counterparts. Finally, in a virtuous circle, global reductions in diet-related healthcare costs will have a deflationary effect on food prices, and global alleviation of health-related suffering will free individuals for inspired innovations that benefit humankind and the earth.

‘Central bank digital currency will revolutionize the financial system’

Inga Mullins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Fluency

A new digital form of a country’s fiat currency issued directly by a nation’s monetary authority or central bank is predicted to have one of the biggest disruptive impacts over the next 3-5 years. This form is referred to as a central bank digital currency (CBDC). When underpinned with blockchain technology, a CBDC has the potential to revolutionize the financial system and pave the way to increasing financial inclusion and improving the lives of billions of people globally by providing access to cheap and affordable financial services. Due primarily to its architecture, a well-constructed CBDC can support offline payments, shielded transfers, automation throughout the programmability layer, and possess cash-like properties. All these features when taken together will foster financial inclusion of the user by providing them with a digital alternative to physical cash, enhancing access to their money even in remote areas, and providing options for those that are currently unbanked. Innovative payment platforms will provide an on-ramp for building CBDC and bridging them together to existing payment networks, including both traditional banking and alternative finance. For banks and issuers, they’ll be able to integrate their existing infrastructure and be able to provide a broad spectrum of CBDC-linked payment-related services and exercise cross-chain interoperability protocols for universal payment access to digital national currencies, stablecoins, NFTs, the Metaverse and much more.

‘Supply chain intelligence will solve the food crisis’

Julie Gerdeman, Chief Executive Officer, Everstream

Several decades of accelerating climate change, a global pandemic, conflict, and fragmented supply chains impacted food production and distribution, driving the global food crisis to catastrophic levels. By 2027, major food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods manufacturers will use AI-driven supply chain technology to see future disruption and act before weather, labour issues, and other incidents can harm the global food supply. Contingency plans will be needed far less often because companies will have advanced insights exposing how future weather events will impact their suppliers, giving them ample time to find alternatives. They will predict spikes in commodity availability, change their purchasing habits and reformulate their products so shelves remain stocked. Food spoilage and waste during transit will no longer be a problem because manufacturers and shippers can spot unusual weather, labour issues, and other stoppages well in advance. Food distribution to remote locations that need it the most will no longer be delayed due to port and road closures. Predictive supply chain technology will enable companies to shift from reactive response to proactive action, keeping store shelves stocked and food flowing worldwide.

‘AI will reinvent how we think about education’

Asude Altintas, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Twin Science

The traditional education system was invented nearly 200 years ago to meet the needs of the industrial revolution – it is not functional today. Today, the needs of our world have been gathered under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. On the other hand, 21st-century skills that will serve these needs are listed by the World Economic Forum. The younger generation already has the desire to co-create solutions to the world's biggest problems and create a more compassionate world. Technological progress is a great chance to help every child develop skills and competencies to solve these problems and build a better future. AI will be used to understand children’s own interests to suggest the next step in their learning journey. AI will also generate insights for their parents and teachers and will turn them into mentors. The internet is already connecting children with the best experts, improving the quality of education and reducing inequalities. Every child will be able to ideate, prototype, test and iterate in a cost-effective way. In this way, they will innovate and improve the well-being of the world.

‘Technology will bring the best opportunities to the best talent ’

Projjal Ghatak, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Onloop

The one sector that has gone through breakneck change in the last two years is the workplace. Office work has been the default for knowledge workers for decades and did not warrant a full re-think until the pandemic. The pandemic tested it to its fullest but although we saw flat to increased productivity, the loss in cultural connectivity and an increase in anxiety, fatigue, apathy and burnout are all also some of the effects being felt. In a pace of rapid change, it is hard to parse out each piece independently. The pandemic also lasted long enough to truly change the talent landscape for many companies to a permanent global and hybrid one. This means that companies can seize the day in thinking about a global talent market to tap into in a realistic fashion. So, if I had to be provocative, I would say that technology is going to be a true leveller. It will bring the best opportunities to the best talent irrespective of where they live thereby truly unlocking the full potential of a billion knowledge workers.

‘Advanced manufacturing and fashion technology could digitally transform the apparel industry’

Matthew Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, DXM

Transforming the apparel industry with localized, on-demand manufacturing. The apparel industry is riddled with excessive waste and supply chain challenges. Today, most brands and retailers are forced to mass-produce goods with limited consumer input, resulting in high merchandise return rates, waste from overproduction, and lower profit margins due to deep discounts of unwanted merchandise. And while on-demand apparel and footwear are believed to be a solution, traditional manufacturing models still require months of lead time and hundreds of miles of travel between order and delivery - a problem which has only been exacerbated by global supply chain instability. Advanced manufacturing and fashion technology can digitally transform the apparel industry by bridging the gap between creators, consumers, and local manufacturers. It can play an important role in producing custom goods locally, resulting in dramatically reduced turnaround times – days, not months. This innovative model has the potential to not only reduce the environmental footprint of the fashion industry but also improve supply chain security on a global scale. It’s a promising solution that can be achieved with an open platform that unites best-in-class partners for the greater good of the apparel industry, and the world.

‘The quantum internet is coming’

Jim Ricotta, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Aliro Quantum

The quantum internet is coming, and it will revolutionize the world just as the classical internet has. And just as classical networks enabled today's internet, quantum networks are required to build the quantum internet of tomorrow. The quantum internet is expected to have a profound impact on how we live our lives by enabling breakthroughs in energy, medicine, material sciences and more. In the next five years, we will see quantum networks emerge from local area networks and clusters into continent-scale area networks using quantum repeaters, which are the foundations of the quantum internet. As a result, we'll see more and more use cases emerge for quantum networks. For example, quantum secure communications leverage the power of physics to enable unhackable security. Distributed quantum sensing will enable ultra-high-resolution telescopes, as well as ultra-precise clocks and GPS. And to make the power of quantum computing useful, clustered quantum computing and ultimately distributed quantum computing will enable the quantum internet.

‘AI will power clinical decision making in fertility clinics around the globe’

Paxton Maeder-York, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Alife Health

Between now and 2030, over one billion people will suffer from infertility. As global population growth slows and drops below the replacement rate, utilizing AI-enhanced fertility treatments will help support the creation of new families and future generations. The most common infertility treatment today, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), is expensive, often requires multiple attempts, and is both physically and emotionally onerous. Successful pregnancies from IVF rely on a complex set of clinical decisions made by physicians to deliver the optimal care for each patient. The use of technology and advanced analytics to support this decision making will lead to improvements in care efficiency, clinical success rates, and personalization of treatment methods. By 2027, AI will power clinical decision making in fertility clinics around the globe, enabling physicians to deliver a new level of precision medicine to improve outcomes and expand access for patients.

'Human potential will be re-directed towards more meaningful objectives'

Gabriel Safar, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, LeasePilot

Documents as technology have served businesses well for centuries. In modern times, email may have replaced the need for a courier and documents may be stored electronically, but the underlying technology itself hasn’t changed. That’s a problem since documents are fundamentally an analogue technology and today’s world is digital. Computers aren’t very good at manipulating natural language (analogue), but they are great at manipulating information in a database (digital). So, taking a data-first approach to constructing agreements opens the door to hyper-efficient transactions facilitated by computers. By converting agreements into structured digital information, software can assemble, manipulate, store, share, and understand these agreements in ways that weren’t previously impossible. When done successfully, the end-user sees a document written in natural language and is able to edit the text of the agreement in the same way that they would in a traditional word processor. But behind the scenes, the agreement is still a collection of database values which are updated to reflect the user’s interactions with that document. Ultimately, the impact will be a future with radically more efficient markets that free up massive amounts of wasted human potential to be re-directed toward more meaningful objectives.

‘Remote sensing data streams will accurately monitor natural ecosystems’

Kevin Lang, Chief Executive Officer and President, Agerpoint

To achieve the United Nations goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and keep global warming below +1.5 °C, nature-based solutions to restore, conserve or enhance forests or agricultural lands are a valuable contributor to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and capturing it into the soil. However, to determine the impact of these solutions, measurements such as tree height, trunk diameter and biomass are required to accurately quantify the carbon stock potential in plants. These measurements are traditionally assessed through labour intensive and subjective manual methods. With the increased demand for credible carbon credits along with a heightened need for transparency, remote sensing data streams from high-resolution cameras and lasers (i.e., LiDAR) are enabling new scalable and efficient digital measurement techniques. Satellite imagery is increasing in resolution and frequency as more constellations enter into orbit. Rapid advances in smartphone optical sensors and positional systems provide extensive access for growers and conservationists to affordably capture rich datasets. These data sources, combined with cloud data processing, artificial intelligence and data fusion will empower accurate measurement and monitoring of plant health and carbon sequestration potential for natural ecosystems.

Metaphors make the world

Woven into the fabric of language, metaphors shape how we understand reality. what happens when we try using new ones.

by Benjamin Santos Genta + BIO

‘Language is fossil poetry. As the limestone of the continent consists of infinite masses of the shells of animalcules, so language is made up of images, or tropes, which now, in their secondary use, have long ceased to remind us of their poetic origin.’ – from the essay ‘The Poet’ (1844) by Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Metaphors … become more literal as their novelty wanes.’ – from the book Languages of Art (1976) by Nelson Goodman

If Ralph Waldo Emerson was right that ‘language is fossil poetry’, then metaphors undoubtedly represent a significant portion of these linguistic remnants. A particularly well-preserved linguistic fossil example is found in the satirical TV show Veep : after successfully giving an interview designed to divert the public’s attention from an embarrassing diplomatic crisis, the US vice-president – portrayed by the outstanding Julia Louis-Dreyfus – comments to her staff: ‘I spewed out so much bullshit, I’m gonna need a mint.’

When used properly, metaphors enhance speech. But correctly dosing the metaphorical spice in the dish of language is no easy task. They ‘must not be far-fetched, or they will be difficult to grasp, nor obvious, or they will have no effect’, as Aristotle already noted nearly 2,500 years ago. For this reason, artists – those skilled enhancers of experience – are generally thought to be the expert users of metaphors, poets and writers in particular.

Unfortunately, it is likely this association with the arts that has given metaphors a second-class reputation among many thinkers. Philosophers, for example, have historically considered it an improper use of language. A version of this thought still holds significant clout in many scientific circles: if what we care about is the precise content of a sentence (as we often do in science) then metaphors are only a distraction. Analogously, if what we care about is determining how nutritious a meal is, its presentation on the plate should make no difference to this judgment – it might even bias us.

B y the second half of the 20th century, some academics (especially those of a psychological disposition) began turning this thought upside down: metaphors slowly went from being seen as improper-but-inevitable tools of language to essential infrastructure of our conceptual system.

Leading the way were the linguist George Lakoff and the philosopher Mark Johnson. In their influential book , Metaphors We Live By (1980), they assert that ‘most of our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature’. What they mean by this is that our conceptual system is like a pyramid, with the most concrete elements at the base. Some candidates for these foundational concrete (or ‘literal’) concepts are those of the physical objects we encounter in our every day, like the concepts of rocks and trees. These concrete concepts then ground the metaphorical construction of more abstract concepts further up the pyramid.

Lakoff and Johnson start from the observation that we tend to talk of abstract concepts as we do of literal ones. For instance, we tend to speak of ideas – an abstract concept that we cannot directly observe – with the same language that we use when we speak about plants – a literal concept with numerous observable characteristics. We might say of an interesting idea that ‘it is fruitful’, that someone ‘planted the seed’ of an idea in our heads, and that a bad idea has ‘died on the vine’.

The goal of an argument under the ‘dance’ framing would not be to ‘win’ it but to produce a pleasing final product

It is not just that we speak this way: Lakoff and Johnson take us to really understand and make inferences about the (abstract) concept of an idea from our more tangible understanding of the (concrete) concept of a plant. They conclude that we have the conceptual metaphor IDEAS ARE PLANTS in mind. (Following convention, I will capitalise the conceptual metaphor, wherein the abstract concept comes first and is structured by the second.)

Lakoff and Johnson further illustrate this with the following example. In English, the abstract concept of an argument is typically metaphorically structured through the more concrete concept of a war: we say that we ‘win’ or ‘lose’ arguments; if we think the other party to be uttering nonsense, we say that their claims are ‘indefensible’; and we may perceive ‘weak lines’ in their argument. These terms come from our understanding of war, a concept we are disconcertingly familiar with.

The novelty of Lakoff and Johnson’s proposal is not in noticing the ubiquity of metaphorical language but in emphasising that metaphors go beyond casual speech: ‘many of the things we do in arguing are partially structured by the concept of war.’ To see this, they suggest another conceptual metaphor, ARGUMENT IS A DANCE. Dancing is decisively a more cooperative enterprise than war – the goal of an argument under this framing would not be to ‘win’ it but to produce a pleasing final product or performance that both parties enjoy. The dynamics of how we’d think about an argument under such a framing would be very different. This highlights the role of metaphors in creating reality rather than simply helping to represent it.

M etaphors thus seem to provide the foundation of how we conceptualise abstract concepts (and, therefore, much of the world). A single metaphor, though, only partly structures complex concepts – typically, more are used. Take the concept of romantic love. A widespread conceptual metaphor in a variety of languages is ROMANTIC LOVE IS A JOURNEY. It is common to say that a relationship is ‘at a crossroads’ when an important decision must be made, or that people ‘go their separate ways’ when they split. (Charles Baudelaire’s 1857 poem ‘Invitation au voyage’ is a notable play on this conceptual metaphor, where the speaker invites a woman to both a metaphorical and a literal journey.) Again, these metaphorical conceptualisations greatly affect how we act in a relationship: without the notion of a crossroads in my relationship, I probably would not have considered the need for a serious conversation with my partner about our state.

But love, so important for human life, is partially structured by innumerably many other metaphors. Another common one – perhaps fossilised by Ovid’s poem with the same title – is ROMANTIC LOVE IS WAR. It is common to read that one party ‘conquers’ the other or is ‘gaining ground’ with an initially reluctant partner, and that one’s hand can be ‘won’ for marriage. (Already with this example, we see that pervasive metaphorical framings can have not-so-subtle misogynistic undertones.)

To the eternal question ‘What is love?’, conceptual metaphor theory has an answer: the bundle of metaphors that are used to conceptualise it. LOVE IS A JOURNEY and LOVE IS WAR are two instances of this bundle that highlight and create different aspects of the concept of love.

Any speaker knows that the language we use matters, and that there is a complex feedback between the language we speak and the thoughts we think. Empirical studies support this intuition: having different conceptual metaphors in mind, people will tend to make different decisions in the same context (a reasonable indicator that they harbour different concepts).

Metaphors influence opinions, including how people view climate change or the police

In one such study , two groups were shown a report on the rising crime rate in a city. One group received a report that opened with the statement ‘Crime is a virus ravaging the city,’ while the other group received a report that started with ‘Crime is a beast ravaging the city.’ The two groups were thus primed to metaphorically structure the concept of crime with two distinct concepts: virus or beast. They were then asked about which measures they would implement to solve the crime problem. Those who were primed to have the conceptual metaphor CRIME IS A BEAST were much more likely to recommend punitive measures, such as increasing the police force and putting criminals in jail (just as one would, presumably, put a beast in a cage). Those who were primed to entertain CRIME IS A VIRUS tended to suggest measures that are associated with epidemiology: to contain the problem, to identify the cause and treat it, and to implement social reforms. Remarkably, the participants were not aware of the effect these metaphorical framings had on their choices. When asked why they chose the solutions they did, respondents ‘generally identified the crime statistics, which were the same for both groups, and not the metaphor, as the most influential aspect of the report.’

Crime is not an outlier: studies with similar setups strongly suggest that the choice of conceptual metaphors significantly influences the opinions and decisions of individuals in a variety of settings. Among others, these include how people view the threat of climate change, their attitudes towards the police, and their financial decision-making.

The significance of metaphors and analogical thinking is even more pronounced in children. Spearheaded by work by the cognitive scientists Dedre Gentner and Keith Holyoak, the study of analogical reasoning is now a flourishing research programme. There is considerable evidence of the importance of the use of analogy in the development of children; studies suggest that relational thinking – essential for making analogies – predicts children’s test scores and reasoning skills. Though many of these studies have yet to be replicated, metaphors seem to literally shape the brain.

It is also not an exaggeration to say that metaphors scaffold science, that conceptual system of organising knowledge. In Polarity and Analogy (1966), a fascinating study of the use of analogies and metaphors in ancient Greek science, the historian Sir Geoffrey Lloyd makes a compelling case for the importance of analogies in guiding early scientific thought. For example, Lloyd highlights how analogies with political organisations shaped views about the cosmos. A typical ancient Greek approach to explain the Universe involved postulating fundamental substances and then explaining how these interact (Empedocles famously proposed that the four fundamental substances are fire, air, water, and earth). To help determine the relations between the substances, these ancient scientists would invoke analogies with their political systems. One prominent conceptual metaphor used was the COSMOS IS A MONARCHY, where a single substance has supreme power over the others. This language is still used in modern-day physics when we hear that the laws of the Universe govern our world. Another prevalent conceptual metaphor was the COSMOS IS A DEMOCRACY; this framing, which appeared only after democracy was established in Athens, holds that the fundamental substances are in equal rank and function with a sort of contract among themselves.

This use of political metaphors is not just stylistic. Lloyd writes that ‘time and again in the Presocratics and Plato, the nature of cosmological factors, or the relationships between them, are understood in terms of a concrete social or political situation’. From the point of view of conceptual metaphor theory, this makes sense: to understand a new, abstract and invisible concept (the fundamental substances of the Universe), it is only natural that these thinkers analogised it to phenomena they had direct experience with (their political organisation).

Metaphors and analogies are not mere artefacts of ancient science but also vital instruments of the contemporary scientific orchestra. They help formulate and frame theories: political metaphors, not unlike those used by the ancient Greeks, are frequent in modern biology, which is rife with the language of ‘regulators’ – invoking the regulatory bodies now present in modern governments. These metaphors highlight the checks and balances that exist within complex biological systems, paralleling the way government regulators maintain order in their respective domains. Military metaphors are also common: the immune system is repeatedly framed as an army that protects the body from ‘invading’ pathogens. Metabolic pathways are also often analogised to freeways, equipped with ‘bypasses’, and sometimes experiencing ‘roadblocks’ or ‘traffic’, as noted by the philosopher Lauren Ross.

Analogies are also central for generating new hypotheses (what we might call scientific creativity). A notable example is that of Charles Darwin’s idea of natural selection, which he came to by drawing an analogy with the selective practices of farmers. Roughly, the analogy could be cashed out as follows: nature selects organisms for fitness in a similar way that farmers select the best crops for taste, disease resistance and other attributes.

G iven the nature of our metaphorical minds, it is worth asking: are our conceptual metaphors apt? We owe it to ourselves and others to reflect on the appropriateness of the metaphors we employ to frame the world. These choices – conscious or not – can be constructive or disastrous.

Consider the metaphorical discourse between doctors and patients in cancer care. These conversations shape how the patients judge their own experience and so, inevitably, impact their wellbeing. War metaphors are ubiquitous , which says a lot about our culture. Cancer care , unsurprisingly, is no different: patients are often said to be ‘fighting a battle’ with cancer and are judged on their ‘fighting spirit’. Research, however, suggests that this conceptual metaphor causes real harm to some patients. For example , the Stanford palliative care doctor Vyjeyanthi Periyakoil found that ‘opting to refuse futile or harmful treatment options now becomes equivalent to a cowardly retreat from the “battleground” that may be seen as a shameful act by the patient’. In other words, a patient who is already preoccupied with dying from the disease may feel the additional – unnecessary and cruel – shame for not continuing to ‘fight’.

An oncologist review article urges nurses and doctors to rethink the usefulness of this militaristic metaphor. The alternative proposed is to use the conceptual metaphor CANCER IS A JOURNEY to frame the patient experience. Reconceptualising it in this way leads to different thoughts: cancer is not a battle to be conquered, but an individual and unique path to navigate; the experience with the disease is not something that ends (as war typically does) but an ongoing neverending process (with periodic hospital visits to monitor any recurrence).

Any suggested conceptual re-engineering needs to be tested to see if it actually works better than the previous framing. This seems to be the case for the journey metaphor: patients who reframed their cancer experience in this way had a more positive outlook, generally increased wellbeing and reported spiritual growth. (I suspect that a similar mindset switch would do a lot of good for people suffering from mental health and chronic diseases, since these are even less obviously distinct entities that need to be ‘fought’, but rather experiences patients have to live with, often for the rest of their lives.)

The war metaphor is also known to increase racist sentiments, something we’ve seen during the pandemic

Being clear at both linguistic ends – patient and doctor, and more generally non-expert and expert – on what metaphors are used to conceptualise illness is critical: two interlocutors speaking about what they think is the same concept, but each framing that concept with a different metaphor, is a recipe for miscommunication. And miscommunication can be painful, especially when one party is experiencing a disease that profoundly consumes every aspect of their being.

We should also question current metaphorical framing of complex societal challenges – writing in The New York Times in 2010, the economist Paul Krugman warns that ‘bad metaphors make for bad policy’. The COVID-19 pandemic is a case in point: the long-standing practice to employ war metaphors to speak about pandemics was a trend observed with the coronavirus outbreak as well. Common phrases included ‘nurses in the trenches’, healthcare workers as a ‘first line of defence’, and politicians announcing that the nation is at ‘war’ against an invisible enemy.

At first examination, war metaphors might seem to convey the gravity of the situation and mobilise people for action. But it is important in such cases to consider the unintended consequences that come with a choice of metaphorical framing. War, for example, generally requires intense nationwide mobilisation for action, whereas plagues require the majority of the population to stay home and do nothing. The war metaphor is also known to increase racist sentiments, something we’ve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an alternative, some linguists have suggested that a more fitting metaphor would be to reconceptualise it as the PANDEMIC IS A FIRE, since this emphasises the urgency and destructiveness of the health crisis, while avoiding some of the drawbacks of the war metaphor. This is not to say that it is wrong or unethical to have in mind the PANDEMIC IS A WAR – it could be that the war framing is in fact the best to mobilise people and motivate them to stay home during pandemic emergencies. The point is, rather, that knowing its potential problems should prompt us to use the metaphor with extra precautions.

It should be clear that the power a choice of metaphor(s) has in structuring our thoughts makes the tool vulnerable to be hijacked by grifters and politicians to advance their own agenda. To take but one example, in 2017 Donald Trump used a version of Aesop’s fable of The Farmer and the Snake to metaphorically frame immigrants in a negative light. The fable recounts a farmer who, on her way home, finds a freezing and ill snake. Taking pity on the creature, the woman brings it home and keeps it warm. On her way back from work the next day, she sees that the snake is healthy again. Consumed by joy, she gives the snake a hug. The snake, in turn, fatally bites her. The farmer asks the snake why it would do such a thing; feeling no remorse, the snake says: ‘You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.’ By reading out this story in a speech, Trump primed the audience to conceptualise that IMMIGRANTS ARE SNAKES, and the UNITED STATES IS A WOMAN. The philosopher Katharina Stevens makes a convincing case that Trump used this fable to lend support to the belief that immigrants are a national security threat (just as the snake is a threat to the woman).

Metaphors can also perpetuate a language of dehumanisation that paves the conceptual road for the worst kinds of human atrocities. During the Rwandan genocide, the country’s main radio station played a key role in framing how its Hutu majority saw the Tutsi minority: they repeatedly used metaphors to dehumanise the Tutsis – a well-known example is of analogising Tutsis to cockroaches. When such a metaphor is so internalised that it structures the concept people have of such a group, it follows almost immediately that they will want to get rid of them (just as they would of actual cockroaches). That is what happened. The particularly frightening power of conceptual metaphors is not that a group is seen unfavourably and then , to emphasise this point of view, referred to by dehumanising metaphors. Rather, it is that the metaphorical construction used to frame a particular group in the first place is a reason why the other group sees them that way. Lakoff was right when he warned that ‘Metaphors can kill.’

S uppose we notice that we harbour concepts whose metaphorical foundation causes harm. Can we really reconstruct the concept with a different metaphorical foundation? Lakoff and Johnson think so – I hope they are right, even if doing so is no easy task.

The first step is to notice the metaphor; this is not always obvious. One way of reconstructing part of the history of feminist thought is to say that the thinkers spotted the pernicious metaphor of framing women as objects in the conceptual structure of the patriarchal society around them. Among those who pointed out the pervasive conceptual metaphor WOMEN ARE OBJECTS was the feminist Andrea Dworkin, who wrote that ‘objectification occurs when a human being … is made less than human, turned into a thing or commodity’. Though in contemporary discourse there is an acknowledgment that this conceptualisation is widespread (consciously or not), at the time of writing Woman Hating (1974), Dworkin explicitly emphasises the need to make people aware of it.

Once the conceptual metaphor is explicitly spelled out, the next step is to argue why it is undesirable and in need of change. With objectification, many ethical problems arise; significantly, the autonomy of the woman is reduced, which enables unbalanced power dynamics. This is a considerable harm in need of imperative remedy. To fight back, feminist writers have searched for the cause of this metaphorical conceptualisation and sought – and continue to seek – to dismantle it. (Dworkin and her fellow feminist Catharine MacKinnon take pornography to be a primary cause, though this has been challenged by other thinkers.)

The most important first step is to be aware that a concept we have is constructed metaphorically

The deeper a metaphor is rooted in the collective psyche, the harder it is to replace. But, even when ingrained, small changes can sometimes have important effects. One such minor change was done by The Guardian : in 2019, they changed their style guide to advise authors to use the term climate ‘crisis’ or ‘emergency’ instead of climate ‘change’. The editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, justified this by noting that the current language sounded ‘rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity’. This sort of change in language can slowly alter how readers understand the gravity of the climate situation.

Much research still needs to be done. How can we know whether a conceptual metaphor is doing what we want of it? What features do good alternative conceptual metaphors have in common? How can we successfully dismantle the foundational metaphor of a concept? Some harmful metaphors will be harder to free ourselves from than others; however, the most important first step is to be aware that a concept we have is constructed metaphorically. Finding these should, in many cases, be rather easy: after all, as the philosopher Nelson Goodman observes, ‘metaphor permeates all discourse, ordinary and special, and we should have a hard time finding a purely literal paragraph anywhere.’

Metaphors are (metaphorically) woven into the fabric of our language and thought, shaping how we grasp and articulate abstract concepts. We should therefore feel free to prudently explore alternative metaphors and judge whether they perform better. A collective effort to notice and change the metaphors we use has enormous potential to reduce individual and societal harm.

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Quote Investigator®

Tracing Quotations

Never Doubt That a Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Can Change the World; Indeed, It’s the Only Thing That Ever Has

Margaret Mead? Donald Keys? Norman Vincent Peale? Patrick E. Haggerty? R. H. Edwin Espy? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: A popular energizing statement about small groups changing the world is usually attributed to the influential cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead. Yet, I have been unable to find a solid citation. Would you please help?

Quote Investigator: Researchers have been unsuccessful in finding the quotation in Margaret Mead’s corpus. The earliest strong match known to QI appeared in the 1982 book “Earth at Omega: Passage to Planetization”. The epigraph of chapter 6 was the following. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI : [1] 1982 Copyright, Earth at Omega: Passage to Planetization by Donald Keys, (Epigraph of Chapter VI: The Politics of Consciousness), Quote Page 79, Published by Branden Press, Boston, Massachusetts. … Continue reading

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead

The author, Donald Keys, did not provide any details about the source of the statement. Margaret Mead had died a few years earlier in 1978.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

The notion that a small group can change the world has been expressed many times in the past. In 1959 the minister and motivational speaker Norman Vincent Peale described a germinal group of two: [2] 1959 February 15, Greensboro Daily News, Confident Living by Dr. Norman V. Peale, Quote Page D2, Column 6, Greensboro, North Carolina. (GenealogyBank)

. . . a demonstration of an age-old principle: That you can change your life, that I can change mine and that together we can change the world around us.

In 1963 Patrick E. Haggerty who was one of the founders of the ground-breaking technology company Texas Instruments was quoted in “The Dallas Morning News” of Texas as follows: [3] 1963 May 12, The Dallas Morning News, Why Busy Men Go Extracurricular by Al Altwegg (Business Editor of The News), Section 3, Quote Page 1, Column 4, Dallas, Texas. (GenealogyBank)

“It’s a tremendously stimulating thing,” Pat Haggerty said, “for each person who has learned that a small group of individuals can change the world if they really want to.”

In 1967 a religious figure employed a partial match as recorded in the “New York Times”. He used the terms “thoughtful” and “citizens” together with the phrase “change the world”: [4] 1967 August 30, New York Times, TV-Discussion Series Planned By Church Council and C.B.S., Quote Page 22, Column 5, New York. (ProQuest)

The Rev R. H. Edwin Espy, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said that the project has been undertaken “in the conviction that informed, concerned and thoughtful citizens can change the world.”

In 1982 the book “Earth at Omega: Passage to Planetization” by Donald Keys included the full modern quotation ascribed to Margaret Mead as noted at the beginning of this article.

In March 1982 the newspaper “100 Mile House Free Press” of British Columbia, Canada reported that a local group called “Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose” was scheduled to meet. Donald Keys was one of the group founders, and the organizers planned to show a videotape of a public address he had delivered in January. The article began with the saying: [5] 1982 March 3, 100 Mile House Free Press, Planetary Initiative group forms, Quote Page 16, Column 1, 100 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada. (Newspapers_com)

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead, anthropologist, recipient of the Planetary Citizen of the Year Award in 1978. This quotation especially appeals to Carol McCuaig, who with Stephen Leckie, both of 100 Mile House, will be hosting the first local meeting of Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose on Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the board room at Red Coach Inn.

In 1984 “Curing Nuclear Madness: A New-Age Prescription for Personal Action” by Frank G. Sommers with Tana Dineen presented the saying as a chapter epigraph: [6] 1984 Copyright, Curing Nuclear Madness: A New-Age Prescription for Personal Action by Frank G. Sommers with Tana Dineen, (Epigraph of Chapter 8: The Birth of a Peaceful Planet), Methuen Publications, … Continue reading

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. MARGARET MEAD

In 1986 a newspaper in Akron, Ohio remarked that the quotation appeared in a film titled “Women — For America, For the World” which was directed by Vivienne Verdon-Roe; the film later won an Academy Award: [7] 1986 May 25, The Akron Beacon Journal, Women protest nuclear arms in acclaimed film (Continuation title: Protesting arms race in film) by Jan C. Snow (Special to the Beacon Journal), Start Page F1, … Continue reading

Her hope is capsulized in a quotation from the late Margaret Mead that concludes the film: “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, that is all that ever has.”

In conclusion, this article presents a snapshot of current knowledge. Donald Keys appears to be the crucial initial propagator of the quotation although it remains unclear how he learned about the statement. The precise phrasing and the ascription to Margaret Mead hinge on his veracity. There is no substantive support for competing ascriptions, and QI would tentatively assign the saying to Mead.

(Great thanks to George Marshall, Daniel Gackle, Carol Lamm, Drew Myron, and Matthew Warshauer whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to the pioneering researchers Fred R. Shapiro, Ralph Keyes, Barry Popik, Bill Mullins and Mardy Grothe. Thanks also to discussants Jonathan Lighter and Wilson Gray.)

Arab States

Asia and the pacific, europe & central asia, latin america & the caribbean.

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What is climate change mitigation and why is it urgent?

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Climate change mitigation involves actions to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
Mitigation efforts include transitioning to renewable energy sources, enhancing energy efficiency, adopting regenerative agricultural practices and protecting and restoring forests and critical ecosystems.
Effective mitigation requires a whole-of-society approach and structural transformations to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
International cooperation, for example through the Paris Agreement, is crucial in guiding and achieving global and national mitigation goals.
Mitigation efforts face challenges such as the world's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels, the increased demand for new mineral resources and the difficulties in revamping our food systems.
These challenges also offer opportunities to improve resilience and contribute to sustainable development.

What is climate change mitigation?

Climate change mitigation refers to any action taken by governments, businesses or people to reduce or prevent greenhouse gases, or to enhance carbon sinks that remove them from the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun in our planet’s atmosphere, keeping it warm.

Since the industrial era began, human activities have led to the release of dangerous levels of greenhouse gases, causing global warming and climate change. However, despite unequivocal research about the impact of our activities on the planet’s climate and growing awareness of the severe danger climate change poses to our societies, greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. If we can slow down the rise in greenhouse gases, we can slow down the pace of climate change and avoid its worst consequences.

Reducing greenhouse gases can be achieved by:

Shifting away from fossil fuels : Fossil fuels are the biggest source of greenhouse gases, so transitioning to modern renewable energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power, and advancing sustainable modes of transportation, is crucial.
Improving energy efficiency : Using less energy overall – in buildings, industries, public and private spaces, energy generation and transmission, and transportation – helps reduce emissions. This can be achieved by using thermal comfort standards, better insulation and energy efficient appliances, and by improving building design, energy transmission systems and vehicles.
Changing agricultural practices : Certain farming methods release high amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, which are potent greenhouse gases. Regenerative agricultural practices – including enhancing soil health, reducing livestock-related emissions, direct seeding techniques and using cover crops – support mitigation, improve resilience and decrease the cost burden on farmers.
The sustainable management and conservation of forests : Forests act as carbon sinks , absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation are key for climate mitigation and generate multiple additional benefits such as biodiversity conservation and improved water cycles.
Restoring and conserving critical ecosystems : In addition to forests, ecosystems such as wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands, as well as coastal biomes such as mangrove forests, also contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, while supporting biodiversity and enhancing climate resilience.
Creating a supportive environment : Investments, policies and regulations that encourage emission reductions, such as incentives, carbon pricing and limits on emissions from key sectors are crucial to driving climate change mitigation.

Photo: Stephane Bellerose/UNDP Mauritius

Photo: Stephane Bellerose/UNDP Mauritius

Photo: La Incre and Lizeth Jurado/PROAmazonia

Photo: La Incre and Lizeth Jurado/PROAmazonia

What is the 1.5°C goal and why do we need to stick to it?

In 2015, 196 Parties to the UN Climate Convention in Paris adopted the Paris Agreement , a landmark international treaty, aimed at curbing global warming and addressing the effects of climate change. Its core ambition is to cap the rise in global average temperatures to well below 2°C above levels observed prior to the industrial era, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

The 1.5°C goal is extremely important, especially for vulnerable communities already experiencing severe climate change impacts. Limiting warming below 1.5°C will translate into less extreme weather events and sea level rise, less stress on food production and water access, less biodiversity and ecosystem loss, and a lower chance of irreversible climate consequences.

To limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5°C, it is imperative for the world to undertake significant mitigation action. This requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent before 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century.

What are the policy instruments that countries can use to drive mitigation?

Everyone has a role to play in climate change mitigation, from individuals adopting sustainable habits and advocating for change to governments implementing regulations, providing incentives and facilitating investments. The private sector, particularly those businesses and companies responsible for causing high emissions, should take a leading role in innovating, funding and driving climate change mitigation solutions.

International collaboration and technology transfer is also crucial given the global nature and size of the challenge. As the main platform for international cooperation on climate action, the Paris Agreement has set forth a series of responsibilities and policy tools for its signatories. One of the primary instruments for achieving the goals of the treaty is Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) . These are the national climate pledges that each Party is required to develop and update every five years. NDCs articulate how each country will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience. While NDCs include short- to medium-term targets, long-term low emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) are policy tools under the Paris Agreement through which countries must show how they plan to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. These strategies define a long-term vision that gives coherence and direction to shorter-term national climate targets.

Photo: Mucyo Serge/UNDP Rwanda

Photo: William Seal/UNDP Sudan

At the same time, the call for climate change mitigation has evolved into a call for reparative action, where high-income countries are urged to rectify past and ongoing contributions to the climate crisis. This approach reflects the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which advocates for climate justice, recognizing the unequal historical responsibility for the climate crisis, emphasizing that wealthier countries, having profited from high-emission activities, bear a greater obligation to lead in mitigating these impacts. This includes not only reducing their own emissions, but also supporting vulnerable countries in their transition to low-emission development pathways.

Another critical aspect is ensuring a just transition for workers and communities that depend on the fossil fuel industry and its many connected industries. This process must prioritize social equity and create alternative employment opportunities as part of the shift towards renewable energy and more sustainable practices.

For emerging economies, innovation and advancements in technology have now demonstrated that robust economic growth can be achieved with clean, sustainable energy sources. By integrating renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal power into their growth strategies, these economies can reduce their emissions, enhance energy security and create new economic opportunities and jobs. This shift not only contributes to global mitigation efforts but also sets a precedent for sustainable development.

What are some of the challenges slowing down climate change mitigation efforts?

Mitigating climate change is fraught with complexities, including the global economy's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels and the accompanying challenge of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. This reliance – and the vested interests that have a stake in maintaining it – presents a significant barrier to transitioning to sustainable energy sources.

The shift towards decarbonization and renewable energy is driving increased demand for critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth metals. Since new mining projects can take up to 15 years to yield output, mineral supply chains could become a bottleneck for decarbonization efforts. In addition, these minerals are predominantly found in a few, mostly low-income countries, which could heighten supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions.

Furthermore, due to the significant demand for these minerals and the urgency of the energy transition, the scaled-up investment in the sector has the potential to exacerbate environmental degradation, economic and governance risks, and social inequalities, affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and workers. Addressing these concerns necessitates implementing social and environmental safeguards, embracing circular economy principles, and establishing and enforcing responsible policies and regulations .

Agriculture is currently the largest driver of deforestation worldwide. A transformation in our food systems to reverse the impact that agriculture has on forests and biodiversity is undoubtedly a complex challenge. But it is also an important opportunity. The latest IPCC report highlights that adaptation and mitigation options related to land, water and food offer the greatest potential in responding to the climate crisis. Shifting to regenerative agricultural practices will not only ensure a healthy, fair and stable food supply for the world’s population, but also help to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Photo: UNDP India

Photo: Nino Zedginidze/UNDP Georgia

What are some examples of climate change mitigation?

In Mauritius , UNDP, with funding from the Green Climate Fund, has supported the government to install battery energy storage capacity that has enabled 50 MW of intermittent renewable energy to be connected to the grid, helping to avoid 81,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

In Indonesia , UNDP has been working with the government for over a decade to support sustainable palm oil production. In 2019, the country adopted a National Action Plan on Sustainable Palm Oil, which was collaboratively developed by government, industry and civil society representatives. The plan increased the adoption of practices to minimize the adverse social and environmental effects of palm oil production and to protect forests. Since 2015, 37 million tonnes of direct greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided and 824,000 hectares of land with high conservation value have been protected.

In Moldova and Paraguay , UNDP has helped set up Green City Labs that are helping build more sustainable cities. This is achieved by implementing urban land use and mobility planning, prioritizing energy efficiency in residential buildings, introducing low-carbon public transport, implementing resource-efficient waste management, and switching to renewable energy sources.

UNDP has supported the governments of Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Indonesia to implement results-based payments through the REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) framework. These include payments for environmental services and community forest management programmes that channel international climate finance resources to local actors on the ground, specifically forest communities and Indigenous Peoples.

UNDP is also supporting small island developing states like the Comoros to invest in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Through the Africa Minigrids Program , solar minigrids will be installed in two priority communities, Grand Comore and Moheli, providing energy access through distributed renewable energy solutions to those hardest to reach.

And in South Africa , a UNDP initative to boost energy efficiency awareness among the general population and improve labelling standards has taken over commercial shopping malls.

What is UNDP’s role in supporting climate change mitigation?

UNDP aims to assist countries with their climate change mitigation efforts, guiding them towards sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. This support is in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to affordable and clean energy (SDG7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG11), and climate action (SDG13). Specifically, UNDP’s offer of support includes developing and improving legislation and policy, standards and regulations, capacity building, knowledge dissemination, and financial mobilization for countries to pilot and scale-up mitigation solutions such as renewable energy projects, energy efficiency initiatives and sustainable land-use practices.

With financial support from the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, UNDP has an active portfolio of 94 climate change mitigation projects in 69 countries. These initiatives are not only aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also at contributing to sustainable and resilient development pathways.

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If I Could Change the World: Essay Outline & Guideline

There are a few crucial elements involved in this essay writing. The How? What? When? Whom? and Where? These are the questions that define this essay. The structure of the paper determines the perfect place for the answers to each of the above. If you have good tips provided by IBuyEssay professionals, you can write an original and unique essay.

Argumentative essay outline: important questions

What are your thoughts on the world we live in? Many people cherish their lives, earthly living things, and being human. A good number of the world population may lack time to think and focus on the world surrounding them. They may not notice that the world needs changes.

Does time allow you to realize this? Do you have a feeling or a belief that the world around you aren’t safe as before? When you have a couple of suggestions on how to change the earth, then you can write the essay “If I could change the world.”

If I Could Change the World: essay ideas

Begin writing your essay by addressing specific things that you believe require changes. You won’t encounter problems on these points since they are the problems that we face every day.

These problems have been here with us for a long until some people assume they can’t change anymore. What if all the people in the world gained consciousness and agreed to address one problem? In such a case, the world will be an excellent place to live.

An excellent of a problem to address is air pollution or global warming. Many issues exist that affect humanity and need your intervention. Writing an essay on change the world is an excellent chance to narrow down your essay topic. Imagine and describe the significant points in the paper on making the world a better place. You will build a perfect essay on change the world.

What will you do to change the world?

What is the most appropriate way to bring the changes? Whom will you seek for help? In this section, imagination is vital. Go deep into your topic and list the methods, ways, and strategies you will use to assist the world. To change the world, you need good resources. Think of the perfect person that will be of importance. Have a list of organizations and people and explain how they will boost your goal. You can involve some global celebrities and charities that will offer support.

Who will feel the impact of the changes?

Will your changes influence the whole society? Will some people need the changes more than others? It’s a good idea to include in your essay. Give clear indications of who will enjoy your actions. You can think of improving the lives of hungry African children. You can aim at helping animals facing global warming or improving the conditions of the poor.

When will you bring the changes?

Do your problems need immediate action? Discuss the worldwide issues that need urgent changes and can’t wait any longer. You can build a topic that relates to pressing global health problems. Then focus on incurable diseases.

Where will you make the changes?

Which area of the world will you change anything? It’s essential to have a specific location for global change. Will you target the whole world? Or will you begin from a particular area and expand later? When considering these ideas, don’t fail to mention your location in the paper.

Things to remember in your essay writing

Think outside the box

Representing original content doesn’t mean inventing or discovering something new. Instead, you can use other students’ essays to get points to develop your hypothesis.

Deep understanding

Have an in-depth understanding of the world’s problems. Prove your ability in concepts, issues, and facts you are addressing. Understand why they matter to you and the reader.

Develop an intelligible structure

Your essay should address issues like What? How? And Why? Also, have an introduction, main body, and a conclusion in your work. Finally, your summary should have a balanced argument.

Excellent language

Develop an effortless and smooth discussion for your readers to feel safe in your hands. Use natural flowing sentences, and the reader should grasp everything discussed. Check grammar, punctuation, typos, and spelling.

These are the significant facts to consider when writing how can I change the world essay. Derive the world problems and use this guideline to develop a perfect paper.

What are the most powerful climate actions you can take? The expert view

Voting tops the list for the world’s leading climate scientists in a year when billions of voters go to the polls

Climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target
‘Hopeless and broken’: why the scientists are in despair

Many people, faced with the worsening impacts of the climate emergency, want to know what they can do personally to fight global heating. The Guardian asked hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists for their views.

What is the most effective action individuals can take?

Most experts (76%) backed voting for politicians who pledge strong climate measures, where fair elections take place . The recommendation is powerful in a year when voters in countries including the US, UK, India, the EU, Mexico and South Africa and more all go to the polls.

“I feel the reason behind the lack of response to date is the nervousness of politicians,” said Prof Bill Collins, at the University of Reading in the UK. “Polls suggest voters are actually more willing for governments to take stronger climate action.” Another expert highlighted the danger of a second Donald Trump presidency to climate action.

The survey sought the view of every contactable lead author and review editor of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2018, with 380 of 843 responding. Overall the scientists were extremely pessimistic about the prospects of holding global temperature rises below internationally agreed targets.

“The science is there, but the lack of will of politicians worldwide is retarding climate change [action],” said Prof Alexander Milner, at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

What about reducing flying?

The second choice for most effective individual action, according to the experts, was reducing flying and fossil-fuel powered transport in favour of electric and public transport. This was backed by 56%, and two-thirds said they had cut their own number of flights.

Flying is the most polluting activity an individual can undertake and makes up a large part of the carbon footprint of the rich. Globally it is a small minority of people who drive aviation emissions, with only about one in 10 flying at all . Frequent-flying “super emitters” who represent just 1% of the world’s population cause half of aviation’s carbon emissions, with US air passengers having by far the biggest carbon footprint among rich countries.

Can eating less meat help?

Meat production has a huge impact on the environment . Most people in wealthy countries already eat more meat than is healthy for them and more than 60% of the scientists said they had cut their own meat consumption. Almost 30% of the experts said eating less meat was the most effective climate action, while a similar proportion backed cutting emissions from heating or cooling homes, by installing heat pumps, for example.

Is protesting an effective form of climate action?

Almost a quarter of the scientists said they had participated in climate protests, as citizens who are deeply worried about global heating. This included scientists from every continent, including those from the US, Argentina, Germany, Bangladesh, Kenya and Australia.

Having fewer children was backed by 12% of the experts but many made further suggestions. Everyone should “talk about climate as the leading existential threat to societal stability”, said one. Shifting savings or pension funds away from fossil fuel investments and towards green ones was also mentioned by multiple experts.

Prof Vanesa Castán Broto, at the University of Sheffield in the UK, suggested a blunt action for one particular group: “Stop working for the fossil fuel industry.” And a scientist from Cameroon advocated avoiding products responsible for deforestation, such as some beef, timber and cocoa.

Can individual action really help?

Many of the experts were clear on the limits. “It can only go so far. Deep, rapid cuts in carbon emissions from oil and gas, as well as other sectors such as transport, are needed, which are outside the control of the average individual,” said Dr Shobha Maharaj, a climate impacts scientist from Trinidad and Tobago.

“Individual action can only amount to a drop in the bucket – only systemic changes will be sufficient,” said Prof David Wrathall, at Oregon State University in the US. But Prof Hiroyuki Enomoto, at Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research, said that while individual actions have a small impact, they are important in increasing collective awareness of the problem.

Are the scientists walking the talk themselves?

Yes. Many foresee catastrophic levels of global heating and are shifting their focus away from the physics of the climate system towards action that slows global heating and work that protects people against the climate impacts they now see as unstoppable.

“I work more on projects with vulnerable communities so they improve their adaptation to climate change, whose impacts we already experience and which will increase in the future,” said Prof Carolina Vera at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Numerous scientists said they had given their time as expert witnesses in legal cases on climate change and others said they were helping groups to develop new climate policies.

Maharaj now chooses to spend at least half her time turning science into action, as the science director of a company implementing responsible reforestation. “There are so many people on the ground who care and who want to make a difference; that is truly encouraging and really drives me,” she said.

Ethical and green living
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Why Asia can lead the world into a new era

The world is experiencing a siege of disruptions, both economic and political—and we think that they may trigger a new era for the world.

Asia is in a strong position to influence and shape a new era not only for its own economies, but for the world. That is because Asia is the world’s new majority. It accounts for more than half of many key metrics we use to analyze the world. For example, Asia accounted for 52 percent of growth in global GDP between 2010 and 2020. Asia also contributed 59 percent of growth in global trade and 53 percent of the manufacturing value added over the past two decades.

But can we really talk about Asia as a single entity? It is so large, about 45 million square kilometers. That’s almost five times the size of Europe. It is incredibly diverse, speaking more than 2,000 languages. And its economies are at very different stage of development. The per capita GDP of Singapore is 60 times that of Nepal, for example.

We think that there are at least five different Asias: Advanced Asia, China, India, Emerging Asia, and Frontier Asia. They will experience the new era differently. Nevertheless, we think they have strong complementarities, stitching them together through pragmatic economic cooperation.

Jeongmin Seong is a director of the McKinsey Global Institute and is based in McKinsey’s Shanghai office.

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Opinion: We produced a documentary hoping to help end the Tijuana sewage crisis. It sparked change.

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Delrose is executive producer of “The Big Dump” and lives in Coronado.

In the beginning of 2023, I, with Brett Davis and Sarah Morga, decided it was time to do a documentary so people could see with their eyes the dangers of the Tijuana sewage crisis.

First, we did a lot of pre-planning and did an outline on what we wanted the film to cover. The news kept changing weekly from our research, so we kept delaying it. We needed to pick the proper time to start. We needed to figure out how to prevent people from being mad at us for revealing this negative information. What we didn’t want is to put a blemish on our beautiful town. We didn’t want to hurt tourism or be blamed for home prices going down. We knew we didn’t want to make it political; this is a nonpartisan issue. There were four writers/producers involved in this project, so we had to deal with these delicate issues. Once we decided to start filming, we had to select the right people to interview. We feel we definitely did pick the right mix of people to interview — there were 23 in all.

Next, we wanted it to be a cinematic film, not just a bland “60 Minute” interview. The ocean, surfing and the Southern California landscape are beautifully filmed. Allen Carrasco, a local videographer, is a master at creating the right shots as the director of photography. He was assisted by his son Landon Carrasco for the drone shots. Davis was selected as the narrator and Morga the lead producer. They were all perfect, passionate and talented. We all got along great and the filming went smooth as silk (this is very unusual for most film productions). So after seven days of filming, we were on to the editing.

Allen Carrasco, also a master at editing, took the lead. But all four of us spent lots of hours going over and over on editing decisions, trying to make the final edit as perfect as possible. After it was completed, we impatiently waited about 60 days to learn if our film was accepted to premiere at the Coronado Island Film Festival. And we had numerous private showings with influential businesses, philanthropists like Malin Burnham and politicians including Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, to help us lobby to get the politicians in Washington and California to make the budget decisions needed to fix the sewage situation at the border.

Finally on Nov. 10, the film premiered. We won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary and set one of the highest attendance records, filling the 567-seat Coronado High School Auditorium. We also won an award at the Best Shorts Competition in La Jolla.

That would become just the beginning of many things to come that we never expected from our little documentary “The Big Dump.” The film was taking on a life of its own. All of sudden around February, Tijuana sewage stories started appearing frequently in all the local newspapers, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, both in the news and opinion sections, and the issue was getting lots of attention on local television news shows. This is presently still happening weekly. We would like to think that our film helped put needed attention on this issue and that our politicians are watching it in Washington, D.C.

The film was meant to be informational and not angry. It actually started unifying all San Diego residents together to be activists for change. The realization that people in Imperial Beach have to close their windows every night — that their beach has been closed 800 straight days, that Coronado Beach is closed a lot, that the pollution is now airborne — is beyond concerning. Our Navy SEALs are getting sick, and our No. 1 natural resource, the Pacific Ocean, is being harmed, and now the pollution is spreading up the coast toward Point Loma and Solana Beach. We hope people continue to band together and fix this crisis.

We were just nominated for the San Diego Film Award for Best Short Documentary and Davis, the producer and narrator of the film, was recently nominated for a humanitarian award. All because of this little film “The Big Dump.” So for us, it was worth spending the time we did making it.

We hope to save the Pacific Ocean, get the surfers and the swimmers back in the water, help our tourism and help everyone’s health. Together we can help the environment and the world. If you have not seen this film, please go to YouTube and search for “The Big Dump.” It’s a 37-minute documentary and it’s free.

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Where to See the Northern Lights on Sunday Night

The best weather conditions for viewing the colorful light display will be in much of the West while New England was “a question mark,” a forecaster said.

A purple-filled sky and a yellow horizon above a mountain range in Utah during a geomagnetic storm.

By Amanda Holpuch

The spectacular aurora borealis, the nighttime light display triggered by solar flares that has been so unusually prevalent since Friday, could be visible again on Sunday night in much of the United States as a powerful geomagnetic storm continues.

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, has been observed from locations much farther south than usual, including much of the United States, Britain and some parts of Central America.

The glowing green, pink and purple lights will be visible again on Sunday night in places with clear, dark skies, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

“There’s a chance that what’s coming at us later today could be quite comparable to what we saw Friday into Friday night,” Mike Bettwy, the operations chief of the Space Weather Prediction Center, said on Sunday. “Our forecast is for it to be right up to that level.”

There were reports of the lights being visible in Puerto Rico, South Florida and parts of Central America on Friday night, Mr. Bettwy said, and it could happen again on Sunday night if the storm is as intense.

He said the aurora “ebbs and flows without much reason,” making it hard to predict the best time to view the phenomenon.

“Generally, the darker the sky is, the higher the chances that you’ll see it,” Mr. Bettwy said.

In places with a lot of bright lights, like a city, it is more difficult to see.

Cloudy weather can also block the view. This could pose a challenge for those hoping to see the northern lights in the central United States, where rain and storms are forecast.

Tony Fracasso, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said that the best chances for clear skies would be in much of the West, as well as from Ohio toward the Mid-Atlantic and possibly in North Dakota and Minnesota.

New England was “a question mark,” he said.

In the United Kingdom, thunderstorms were moving north across Wales into northern England and Scotland on Sunday night , but it was clearer in the south and east.

If you are in a clear area, take a picture or record a video with your cellphone. The camera’s sensor is more sensitive to the wavelengths made by the aurora and may reveal an image different from what you can see with the naked eye.

This weekend’s show is the result of the most powerful geomagnetic storm to reach Earth since October 2003. When geomagnetic activity increases, auroras become brighter and more active, and they expand to regions where they are not usually seen.

The Space Weather Prediction Center has a five-level scale to rate geomagnetic storms. A watch was in place on Sunday for conditions to reach the fourth level or higher.

On Saturday, the storm’s conditions were at the third and the fourth levels, with a period of level-five conditions early in the day, the center said.

Geomagnetic storms can interfere with power grids, communications and navigations systems, but there had been no significant impacts from the storm as of Sunday morning, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The storm will continue into Monday, the Space Weather Prediction Center said.

Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics. More about Amanda Holpuch

What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event that’s out of this world with our space and astronomy calendar .

A dramatic blast from the sun set off the highest-level geomagnetic storm in Earth’s atmosphere, making the northern lights visible around the world .

With the help of Google Cloud, scientists who hunt killer asteroids churned through hundreds of thousands of images of the night sky to reveal 27,500 overlooked space rocks in the solar system .

A celestial image, an Impressionistic swirl of color in the center of the Milky Way, represents a first step toward understanding the role of magnetic fields in the cycle of stellar death and rebirth.

Scientists may have discovered a major flaw in their understanding of dark energy, a mysterious cosmic force . That could be good news for the fate of the universe.

Is Pluto a planet? And what is a planet, anyway? Test your knowledge here .

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The Picture Show

Photos: see the northern lights from rare solar storm.

Geoff Brumfiel

Christchurch, New Zealand: People look at the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, in Rolleston on May 11, 2024. Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

The largest geomagnetic storm in nearly two decades is hitting Earth's atmosphere . It's producing a beautiful glow in the sky all over the world.

A sunspot has sent a stream of charged particles towards Earth.

As those particles hit the Earth's atmosphere they will be heated and start glowing producing beautiful aurora.

The huge solar storm is keeping power grid and satellite operators on edge

South looks north, as solar storm brings auroras

Lisa Upton is with the Southwest Research Institute. Social media is already filling with photos from places like Finland, Russia, Germany and New Zealand, which catches the same effect in the southern hemisphere. It's not clear how far down in the U.S. the aurora will spread, but Upton is keeping an eye out in Colorado.

Space weather forecasters expect the solar storm to peak overnight, but it will last throughout the weekend.

Brunswick, Maine: The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse, late Friday, May 10, 2024. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption

Brunswick, Maine: The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse, late Friday, May 10, 2024.

Estacada, Ore.: In this image taken with a long exposure, cars pass by as people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption

Lake Berryessa, Calif.: The blinking lights of a plane streak through the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, which is visible on May 11, 2024. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images hide caption

London, Ontario: People stop along a country road near London, Ontario to watch the Northern lights or aurora borealis during a geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Brandenburg, Germany: Light green and slightly reddish auroras glow in the night sky. Patrick Pleul/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images hide caption

Brandenburg, Germany: Light green and slightly reddish auroras glow in the night sky.

Whitley Bay, England: People visit St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay to see the aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights. Ian Forsyth/Getty Images hide caption

Crosby Beach, Liverpool, England: The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, glow on the horizon at Another Place by Anthony Gormley. Peter Byrne/PA Images/Getty Images hide caption

Crosby Beach, Liverpool, England: The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, glow on the horizon at Another Place by Anthony Gormley.

Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke, Germany: Northern lights can be seen from the Brocken. The natural spectacle is particularly intense on Saturday night. Matthias Bein/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images hide caption

Rochester, N.Y: Northern Lights light up the sky on May 11, 2024. Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

Hesse, Germany: Northern lights appear in the night sky over the Pferdskopf near Treisberg in the Hochtaunus district of Hesse. Lando Hass/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images hide caption

Mount Mitchell, N.C.: Unusual sun activity created a G5 Geostorm on Earth sparks northern lights on May 10, 2024. Peter Zay/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

London, Ontario: Northern lights or aurora borealis illuminate the night sky near London, Ontario, during a geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Debrad, Slovakia: Northern lights illuminate the sky May 11, 2024. Robert Nemeti/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

Eindhoven, Ukraine: Northern lights illuminate the sky in Eindhoven, Ukraine, May 10, 2024. Nikos Oikonomou/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

Liseleje, Denmark: Northern lights illuminate the sky in Liseleje, Denmark on May 11, 2024. Mohamed El-Shemy/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

Markville, Minnesota: The northern lights glow in the sky over St. Croix State Forest late Friday, May 10, 2024. Mark Vancleave/AP hide caption

Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine: Northern lights light up the sky May 11, 2024. Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu/Getty Images hide caption

Skidmore, Missouri: Old tombstones stand against the northern lights at a cemetery early Saturday, May 11, 2024. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

Middletown, California: Northern lights illuminate the night sky over a camper's tent north of San Francisco on May 11, 2024. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Middletown, California: Northern lights illuminate the night sky over a camper's tent north of San Francisco on May 11, 2024.

Estacada, Oregon: In this image taken with a long exposure, people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, on Friday, May 10, 2024. Jenny Kane/AP hide caption

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Climate Change Assay: A Spark Of Change
Bahçeşehir College is committed to increasing students' awareness of the changing world we live in. This climate change essay competition saw many students submitting well thought out pieces of writing. These essays were marked on their format, creativity, organisation, clarity, unity/development of thought, and grammar/mechanics.
How Is Technology Changing the World, and How Should the World Change
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If I Could Change the World Essay: Examples & Writing Guide
How I would change animal rights and welfare laws . Helping homeless people is a critical task for humanity. Becoming a social service assistant is the best way to change the world. Creativity can change the world and make it a better place to live in. If I could change the world, I would destroy nuclear weapons.
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Video. Asia is in a strong position to influence and shape a new era not only for its own economies, but for the world. That is because Asia is the world's new majority. It accounts for more than half of many key metrics we use to analyze the world. For example, Asia accounted for 52 percent of growth in global GDP between 2010 and 2020.
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17 ways technology could change the world by 2027

Have you read?

‘Web3 technologies will revolutionize the world of commerce’

‘The data industry will become more inclusive and affordable’

‘In the future, our focus will be on the human experience’

' Battery powered construction will underpin sustainability efforts ’

‘Building will dynamically respond and adjust to support human wellness and comfort’

‘Grid flexibility will phase out fossil fuels and jumpstart the clean energy transition’

‘People will eat more nourishing food’

‘Central bank digital currency will revolutionize the financial system’

‘Supply chain intelligence will solve the food crisis’

‘AI will reinvent how we think about education’

‘Technology will bring the best opportunities to the best talent ’

‘Advanced manufacturing and fashion technology could digitally transform the apparel industry’

‘The quantum internet is coming’

‘AI will power clinical decision making in fertility clinics around the globe’

'Human potential will be re-directed towards more meaningful objectives'

‘Remote sensing data streams will accurately monitor natural ecosystems’

Related topics:

Metaphors make the world

Never Doubt That a Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Can Change the World; Indeed, It’s the Only Thing That Ever Has

Arab States

What is climate change mitigation and why is it urgent?

What is climate change mitigation?

What is the 1.5°C goal and why do we need to stick to it?

What are the policy instruments that countries can use to drive mitigation?

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