A new report from Force for Good – The World Investment Plan: Building the Transition to a Secure, Sustainable and Superior Future – warns that today’s metacrisis of turbulence from wars, climate shocks, technological disruption, migration, and social unrest are part of a deeper civilisational shift from the Industrial to the Information Age. Without bold intervention, the world risks systemic instability, stalled human progress, and escalating climate disaster.
The report lays out the strategy for creating a global investment boom deploying a US$125 trillion World Investment Plan through 2035 – 98% of which is investable by private capital for profit – to build the critical infrastructure, climate defences, digital connectivity, healthcare, education, and housing deploying AI at scale to create a platform for mass prosperity and resilience in this transition.
Key findings include:
- Civilisational Transition Driving Turbulence. The metacrisis is a product of the deeper transition to the Information Age, fundamentally reshaping global order, power, economies, and societies.
- Leadership Vacuum. With the U.S. retreating from multilateral leadership – cutting aid and withdrawing from key agreements – and populism rising worldwide, global governance is failing to deliver shared progress.
- Human Progress Stalled. Democracy levels have fallen back to the level of 1985, only 17% of SDG targets are on track, and 74 countries are regressing on the goals.
- Climate Disaster Escalating. Global CO₂ emissions hit a record 37.8 Gt in 2024 and warming has already reached 1.55°C, with the IPCC projecting a 2.5-3.0°C temperature rise this century, threatening economies, ecosystems, food systems, mass migration and political stability.
- Wealth Without Impact. Despite nearly US$700 trillion in global wealth (including US$484 trillion in liquid assets, of which US$270 trillion are invested in capital markets), only a trickle of money goes to raising the world, with blended finance only funding 0.1% of the annual need in 2024.
- Systemic Change to Capitalism. Capitalism must account for the value of nature, leveraging the most powerful system of wealth creation to generate returns from delivering the transition to the information age and a secure, sustainable, and superior future.
“This report shows that the world is distracted by rivalry, politics and killing their neighbours. The choice is between continuing down a path of turbulence and fragmentation, or catalysing a global Big Bang of investment, innovation, and cooperation that can engineer the transition to the Information Age on a secure and sustainable footing,” said Ketan Patel, Chairman, Force for Good
The World Investment Plan details the scale of what needs to be built by 2035:
- c.189,000 solar farms, or c.7 million wind turbines, equivalent to c.19,000 nuclear reactors installed (US$18.9 trillion)
- 1 million km of power transmission lines and 16 million km of power distribution lines built or upgraded (US$9.5 trillion)
- 90 billion m² of building retrofitted (US$11.1 trillion)
- 290,000 km of seawalls and 260 major flood protection systems built (US$1.3 trillion) • 40.1 million km of fibre optic cable and 28,800 data centres commissioned (US$5.4 trillion)
- 9.5 million km of roads, 480,000 km of rail, 321 ports, and 2,500 airports constructed (US$4.3 trillion)
- 266 million affordable homes built (US$9.8 trillion)
- 26,270 hospitals with 3.4 million beds built (US$2.5 trillion)
- 483,000 schools with 7.2 million classrooms bult (US$5.2 trillion)
The report identifies four catalysts required to deliver on the ambitious agenda:
- A New Bretton Woods – an International Economic Compact embedding sustainability, technology, and inclusion to unlock capital markets.
- Technology as a Catalytic Inclusive Force – closing the digital divide and creating new markets through 19 core technologies, including AI, biotech, and climate tech.
- Coalitions of Leading Nations and Institutions – collaborating to deliver solutions and attract private investment.
- An International Pricing System – embedding externalities into accounting and valuations to reorient capitalism for long-term prosperity.
“This report finally restores capital to its true place as one of the most powerful drivers of global social evolution to address the pressing challenges confronting humanity today,” said Garry Jacobs, CEO and President of the World Academy of Art and Science.
About Force for Good
Force for Good’s mission is to mobilise capital, resources, and ideas as a force for good in the world at a time of profound transition. Its annual reports, produced in collaboration with the United Nations and global financial institutions, assess the role of capital in addressing the world’s most pressing issues and enabling the transition to a better future.
For further details, please contact Lesley Whittle, communications: lesley.whittle@forcegood.org
And visit www.forcegood.org.
