Where systems are straining, progress is still possible – pathways from Davos 2026

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2026 held in Davos, Switzerland last month honed in on the spirit of dialogue.

The programme was built around five global challenges that demand public-private cooperation and practical follow-through: cooperation in a contested world, unlocking new sources of growth, investing in people, deploying innovation responsibly and building prosperity within planetary boundaries.

As a multistakeholder and knowledge network, encompassing experts across academia, business, government, civil society and international organizations, more than 100 council members from the Network of Global Future Councils went to Davos and contributed to 67 sessions, including awards, Betazones, hub sessions, issue briefings, Open Forum sessions, podcasts, stakeholder dialogues, town halls and workshops.

Here are some of their timely insights, nuggets of grounded expertise, and decision-relevant perspectives.

Council members weighed in on prospects of cooperation in a more contested world, focusing on the risks and systemic effects of global fragmentation and strategic rivalry between states.

They noted that trade tensions are extending beyond goods, with tariffs increasingly applied to services and that sovereignty and tariffs are being used as instruments of statecraft. The pursuit of national self-reliance and tighter border control places, they observed, is placing a growing strain on alliances and trade governance.

Participants recommended reducing strategic vulnerabilities while preserving channels for cooperation wherever possible. Supply chain resilience and critical mineral dependencies were framed as matters of national security.

Cybersecurity was also underscored as essential infrastructure, particularly for cross-border payments and digitized services, amid the rise of AI-enabled fraud. A central question emerged: how can states cooperate effectively without assuming that current geopolitical contestation is merely temporary?

Despite sharper competition, members emphasized pragmatic steps to sustain trust and preserve cooperation in areas where interests continue to align.

The growth conversation was anchored in investment, productivity and resilience under uncertainty.

While artificial intelligence (AI) was widely viewed as an economy-wide enabler with the potential to reshape productivity and capital formation, participants cautioned about execution risks, citing uneven infrastructure investment and the emergence of winner-take-most dynamics that could constrain broader growth.

Many agreed that unlocking new sources of growth required creating the policies and market conditions that encourage investors to commit capital. Weak investment and productivity were linked to uncertainty about policy direction, including concerns around trust in law, institutions and currency; institutional credibility of public authorities, particularly governments and central banks; and the stability and clarity of rules and regulatory frameworks across the economy, such as tax strategies and coherent AI regulation.

Public debt was mentioned as a systemic risk for many countries, contingent on whether growth arrives fast enough to stabilize fiscal dynamics.

Meanwhile, trade, capital flows and supply chains were portrayed as being rewired toward resilience and new corridors, reshaping competitiveness.

Overall, the message was that with clearer rules and sustained investment, there is scope to translate technological promise into more durable and inclusive growth outcomes.

Investing in people was identified as both a constraint and an opportunity, shaped by demographics, skills and labour force participation. Discussions linked the future labour force to shifting workforce geography, the rise of remote services and the expansion of cross-border hiring.

Skills, strategies and education capacity were seen as decisive in determining access to jobs, services and opportunity.

Enabling mobility, protecting individual agency and sustaining inclusion emerged as central priorities, with assessment and selection systems viewed as critical gateways to diversity and career progression.

Participants highlighted growing uncertainty at the entry level as routine tasks become automated and AI capabilities expand. Preserving agency, they argued, will require sustained investment in skills, mentorship and new models of career architecture.

Risks to participation, including rising childcare costs, displacement pressures and strains linked to migration and border governance, were also underscored as tests of social stability and trust.

The forward emphasis was constructive: by building skills, fair pathways and supportive participation conditions, societies can keep human agency at the centre of economic and social renewal.

Deploying innovation at scale and responsibly was framed as a test of both governance and trust, not just a technology challenge.

Participants underscored AI’s potential to raise productivity and unlock new sources of value, while warning that fragmented rules on data access, privacy and technical standards risk slowing adoption and limiting scale.

Conversations pointed to the need for clear, coherent frameworks that enable adoption while setting firm guardrails.

Further challenges were seen in the form of uneven regulation and data localization, which could raise costs and limit access to capital; and the need for trust as a precondition for adoption across workplaces and agriculture, particularly where questions of data ownership and benefit-sharing remain unresolved.

Cybersecurity was characterized as an ongoing investment imperative, while misinformation and attention capture were treated as systemic risks requiring accountability, education and stronger governance.

The concluding tone was optimistic but grounded – innovation must be paired with credible rules, strong rights protections and resilient digital infrastructure. Together, these form a realistic pathway to scaling technologies that earn and sustain public trust.

Building prosperity within planetary boundaries was presented as a series of real-world trade-offs among mitigation, adaptation, security and affordability. Discussions noted progress on renewables and mitigation.

While progress on renewable energy and emissions mitigation was acknowledged, total global emissions have yet to decline at the necessary scale, prompting renewed focus on adaptation technologies and clearer prioritization across competing objectives.

Priorities focused on incentives, measurement and system resilience. Agriculture was discussed as a major opportunity for mitigation and resilience. However, there was disagreement on what to reward and how to avoid unintended consequences, such as the climate impacts on livelihoods and food security.

The caution was that one-size-fits-all transitions to a more sustainable world can raise affordability risks.

Discussions also underscored trade-offs in energy and industrial strategy, noting the infrastructure demands of powering AI and the strain on ageing grids.

Acute risks were elevated, including glacier retreat with a high potential to threaten freshwater supply, food production, hydropower, drought buffering and biodiversity.

Looking forward, restoration and conservation are key, which were presented as practical, investable pathways that link resilience, climate action and long-term value creation.

The Councils from the Network of Global Future Councils will continue to advance their work throughout 2026, generating insights, convenings and contributing across the Forum’s communities and initiatives. Follow the latest updates and outputs on the Global Future Councils site.