This insight report presents a global, cross-industry analysis of where progress towards gender parity in senior leadership stands today and the structural factors that continue to shape it. Developed by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the New Economy and Society as part of the Global Gender Parity Sprint, the report draws on novel data from the LinkedIn Economic Graph Research Institute and Egon Zehnder, alongside case studies and insights from leaders across business, government, academia and civil society.

Marine ecosystems continue to degrade under pressure from warming seas, rising tides, pollution and overuse, undermining the long-term well-being of the communities and economies that depend on them. This report examines how to shift from the status quo – which perpetuates this decline – towards a regenerative blue economy.
Roughly 40% of the world's population lives within 100 km of the coast. That narrow band – just 5% of inhabited land – generates 30-50% of global GDP and concentrates ports, energy infrastructure, aquaculture, desalination and tourism. This is where most of the regenerative blue economy will be built. The report analyses how the interaction of four systemic levers – integrated ocean governance, innovative and equitable finance, investment in human capacity, and advances in technology and AI – can help transform these ocean-based industries.
Rather than focusing on short-term returns, a regenerative approach offers an ambitious vision of blue economic activity that helps restore ecosystems, strengthen resilience and support equitable prosperity for coastal communities within planetary limits. This approach challenges decision-makers to judge success not only by the wealth generated from the ocean, but by the extent to which that wealth supports restoration, fairness and intergenerational well-being.

Every year, an estimated 130 million tonnes of plastic waste are unmanaged or improperly discarded, polluting soils, waterways and seas. While efforts continue to promote a circular economy and pursue a global plastics treaty, far less attention has focused on how plastic pollution affects biodiversity and the ecosystem services that underpin economies and human well-being. This report addresses that gap.

Plastic pollution has particularly severe impacts on sectors such as fisheries, agriculture and tourism, which directly depend on healthy natural systems. These impacts demonstrate that biodiversity loss and plastic pollution are not just environmental challenges, but economic and resilience challenges too. More than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. So degraded ecosystems create growing risks for communities, industries and economies at a time when they are already under pressure from climate change and geopolitical uncertainty.

This report draws on field assessments conducted across nine geographies on three continents – developed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) – which together represent one of the most detailed multi-country evidence bases on plastic pollution and biodiversity to date. It concludes with recommendations for governments, corporates, investors and communities to translate this evidence into coordinated action to deliver measurable benefits for nature, people and economies.

2025 and early 2026 marked a turning point for the global trade and financial systems as states deployed economic statecraft on a scale not seen in the modern era, accelerating and deepening fragmentation. These global trends present concrete risks and opportunities to emerging markets and developing economies, which are explored in detail in a case study of major African economies. The report offers new quantitative analysis and renews the private sector’s call to preserve the core elements of the global financial system that enable economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Chief Economists' Outlook: May 2026 examines a global economy unsettled by the escalation of conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Africa, with 17% of the world's population and widely recognized for its competitive investment returns, represents one of the most significant untapped opportunities in global markets. FDI to the continent rose to $97 billion in 2024, around 6% of global flows, signalling growing investor confidence. Beyond these headline figures lies a vast frontier of underserved communities, purpose-driven businesses and entire local economies ready to scale up with the right support.

The Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) Roadmap for Africa, developed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Economic Forum, aims to address this challenge by presenting a framework to foster partnerships between civil society, humanitarian and development organizations, governments and private sector companies to mobilize investment in Africa’s frontier markets.

The roadmap will contribute to the HRI initiative's ambition, announced through a global call to action in 2023, to mobilize $10 billion of commercial and catalytic capital to enable 1,000 businesses to scale up in frontier markets by 2030. By 2027, AfDB and the HRI initiative aim to launch up to five country alliances, with the goal to iterate, refine and expand the approach in 10 markets by 2030.

Advancing women’s health requires not only scientific progress, but an innovation ecosystem capable of translating discovery into evidence, technologies and scalable solutions that improve outcomes for women globally. Yet many high-impact conditions continue to receive insufficient targeted innovation. The Women’s Health Innovation Radar maps activity from research funding and scientific publications to clinical trials and product development across 10 high-impact conditions, highlighting where innovation is advancing and where critical gaps persist. It offers a foundation to guide research priorities, inform policy decisions and mobilize investment towards areas of unmet need, helping to ensure that scientific advances translate into meaningful impact for women worldwide.