As the world transitions from what had been a stable post-Cold War global order to a new, more unsettled and unpredictable period, political and geopolitical turbulence has the potential to degrade global cooperative efforts. But it does not need to. Amid mounting economic, environmental, technological and security challenges, constituencies may not be in favour of current methods but are looking for collaborative solutions to, rather than retreat from, these issues.
As a result, leaders will need to be adaptive and innovative within today’s more disordered context, identifying new ways to work with partners to deliver results. Progress will be especially important, not only because the patience of populations is wearing thin but because time is running out. As the world enters the latter half of the decade, there is limited time to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which just 17% are currently on course.
This lack of progress comes as the past year was the hottest on record, the global economy faces weak growth prospects and global security is at a crisis point. Many of these challenges caused voters around the world to express a desire for a change to the status quo. Yet, despite strong voter backlash last year against sitting governments, there are signals that constituencies are looking to accelerate rather than derail solutions. For instance, a large share of the global population wants their respective country to do more when it comes to addressing climate change.
At the same time, advancements in frontier technologies are racing ahead faster than mechanisms can be developed to address their risks and share their benefits. Leaders – even those who may be market or geostrategic competitors – will need to work together to unlock the benefits of technology while placing appropriate safeguards around it.
The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 uses 41 indicators to measure the current state of global cooperation. As with last year’s inaugural edition, the aim is to offer leaders a tool to better understand the contours of cooperation broadly and along five pillars: trade and capital flows, innovation and technology, climate and natural capital, health and wellness, and peace and security. In this way, leaders can identify what is working and what is not, and adjust course accordingly.
The barometer finds that after trending mostly positively for the better part of a decade, overall global cooperation is above pre-COVID-19 pandemic (hereafter referred to as “the pandemic”) levels but has flatlined over the past three years. A key reason for the stall has been the significant degradation in global peace and security, which has pulled the barometer’s overall measurement down. Still, the barometer shows that while cooperation may be slowing in some areas, there are also signs of growth.
- Trade and capital: cooperation dropped slightly, driven mostly by reductions in goods trade in China and developing economies. These declines were partially offset by growing flows of capital, services and people.
- Innovation and technology: digitization of the global economy continues to drive increased cooperation, but global fragmentation of frontier technologies could slow global productivity growth.
- Climate and natural capital: cooperation continues to show strength, but it needs to improve much more and much faster if the world is to meet climate and natural capital goals.
- Health and wellness: health outcomes like life expectancy continue to improve postpandemic, but cross-border development assistance for health is falling.
- Peace and security: the world’s collective security system is under severe pressure from geopolitical tensions. Cooperation on this pillar deteriorated and pulled down the overall barometer. Increased conflicts and the high number of forcibly displaced people are prominent challenges.
Ultimately, as last year’s edition presented, the foundation of resilience, security and growth is cooperation. The question leaders must ask themselves, then, is not whether they should cooperate, but how.
WEF_Global_Cooperation_Barometer_2025To read the insight report as it was published by World Economic Forum, click here.