Global Governance

Theme Leaders: Fariborz Moshirian, Jason Zein, Peter Pham and Mark Humphrey-Jenner

In an increasingly multipolar world characterised by rising global geopolitical tensions and less effective collective approaches to combat climate change, as well as a trade war and a friend-shoring strategy for trade and investment, there has been a decline in the use of multilateralism to address many interconnected global challenges and opportunities.

With both an ineffective UN and its Security Council, as well as the World Trade Organisation, the process of ensuring global collective decision-making on cross-border challenges and opportunities- including global peace and security, environmental protection, global financial stability, cybersecurity, and the pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030s- remains fragile. Furthermore, the lack of effective global financial governance and a resilient financial system can create systemic risks and lead to financial challenges, shocks, or crises, particularly during trade war between nations and in the context of a potential global recession and high inflation. Promoting effective collaboration, addressing climate risks, fast-tracking the transition to cleaner energy sources, and implementing measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change for billions of people in a just and transparent manner, while upholding principles that enhance global corporate social responsibility, are among the most urgent global and national policies that should be enacted within an effective global governance framework and in the spirit of an inclusive multilateral system among nations.

At the same time, due to the interconnected nature of global public goods, the governance of these major public goods- such as protecting the environment, establishing a resilient global financial system, ensuring effective global peace and security, promoting a free and transparent world trade system, and protecting intellectual property - requires global and national collaboration and coordination.

The IGF has published numerous high-impact research works on the aforementioned issues over the last 20 years, emphasising the significance of the interconnectedness of various global challenges and opportunities in leading academic journals, policy research papers, media outlets, and numerous global and national forums. Throughout the years, the IGF has participated in various TV and radio interviews on Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Sky News, and other outlets discussing topics related to global governance and the role of multilateralism in this process.

The IGF will continue its ongoing policy research on the aforementioned themes and will keep organizing several policy forums that concentrate on these challenges and opportunities in collaboration with policymakers, the business community, researchers, think tanks, and the media.