GLOBAL

ISSUES

Reported by:

Castillo, Precious Christine

Consigna, Arjie

Labi, Joanne Mae B.

Magbasa, Flora Vel

Tacder, Lea Mae

 TOP 1
GLOBAL ISSUE
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES- 48.9%
1. Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the most complex and
vital feature of our planet. It is
essentially every living thing and
ecosystem that makes up the environment.
From the tallest giraffe to the smallest
microorganism, everything plays an
important role in the maintenance of our
world.
But with the increase in global warming,
pollution and deforestation, biodiversity is
in danger. Billions of species are going or
have gone extinct all over the world. Some
scientists, in fact, are suggesting that we
are in the beginning of a 6th mass
extinction, posing issues for our planet and
ourselves.
Reducing our meat intake, particularly red
meat, as well as making sustainable
choices can help to keep our planet
running smoothly.
2. Water
Water pollution is a huge concern for us
and our environment. Not only is
polluted water a huge financial strain but is
also killing both humans and marine life.
With oil spills, an abundance of plastic
waste and toxic chemicals entering our
waterways, we‘re damaging the most
valuable resource our planet has to offer.
By educating people on the causes and
effects of water pollution, we can work
together to undo the damage humans have
caused. Laws also need to change to make
pollution tougher, consistently across
national borders.
3. Deforestation
We need plants and trees to survive. They
provide oxygen, food, water and medicine
for everyone, all over the globe. But if
deforestation continues at the rate it’s
occurring, we won‘t have much of the
valuable forestry left.
With natural wildfires, illegal logging and
the mass amount of timber being harvested
for commercial use, our forests are
decreasing at an alarming rate. As well as
reducing our supply of oxygen, the loss of
forests is contributing around 15% of our
greenhouse gas emissions.
To help, you can buy more recycled and
organic products, limiting the amount of
paper and cardboard you use.
4. Pollution
Pollution is one of the primary causes of
many of the other environmental
concerns, including climate change and
biodiversity. All 7 key types of pollution –
air, water, soil, noise, radioactive, light and
thermal – are affecting our environment.
All types of pollution, and environmental
concerns, are interlinked and influence one
another. So, to tackle one is to tackle them
all. That‘s why we need to work together,
as a community, to reduce the impact that
pollution is having on our environment.
5. Climate Change
As pointed out by a recent UN report,
without ‘unprecedented changes’ in our
actions and behaviour, our planet will
suffer drastically from global warming in
just 12 years. Greenhouses gases are the
main cause of climate change, trapping in
the sun‘s heat and warming the surface of
the earth.
An increased ocean temperature is
affecting the sea life and ecosystems
habituated there. The rise in global sea
levels is shrinking our land, causing mass
floods and freak weather incidents across
the world. If we continue as we are, the
world will suffer irreversibly.
Saying no to driving more will reduce your
carbon footprint, as well as switching off
electrical items when they‘re not in use.
More importantly, we need to educate the
world on the effects and severity of global
warming, before it‘s too late.
TOP 2 GLOBAL ISSUES
WAR- 38.9%
War Is Our Most Urgent Problem
Let’s Solve It
If you seek solutions to any of
these problems, you should also devote at
least some effort to ending war, for several
reasons. First, war exacerbates or
perpetuates our other problems, either
directly or by draining precious resources
away from their solution. War subverts
democracy and promotes tyranny and
fanaticism; kills and sickens and
impoverishes people; ravages nature. War
is a keystone problem, the eradication of
which would make our other social
problems much more tractable.
Second, war is more readily
solvable than many other human
afflictions. War is not like a hurricane,
earthquake or Ebola plague, a natural
disaster foisted on us by forces beyond our
control. War is entirely our creation, the
product of human choices. War could end
tomorrow if a relatively small group of
people around the world chose to end it.
Third, more than any of our other
problems, war represents a horrific moral
crime. Particularly when carried out by the
U.S. and other nations, or by groups that
aspire to or claim the legitimacy of states,
war makes hypocrites of us and makes a
mockery of human progress. We cannot
claim to be civilized as long as war or even
the threat of war persists.
Our biggest challenge is making
the transition from our world, which is still
armed and dangerous, to a world in which
war and even the threat of war have
vanished. I am not an absolute pacifist. If
someone attacks me or a loved one—or
even a stranger--I would do my best to
stop him. Sometimes violence is morally
justified, even necessary, to thwart greater
violence.
According to surveys carried out
for more than a decade, the overwhelming
majority of people view war as inevitable,
a permanent feature of human existence.
This fatalistic outlook is wrong, both
empirically and morally. Empirically
because it contradicts what science and
history tell us about war. Morally because
it perpetuates war by discouraging us from
seeking solutions.
TOP 3
INEQUALITY ( SOCIAL AND
INCOME DISCRIMINATION)
30.8%
What is Income Inequality?
 Income inequality is an
extreme concentration of
wealth or income in the hands
of a small percentage of a
population. It has been
described as the gap between
the richest and the rest.
The Basics of Income Inequality
An analysis of 50 years
of economic data by the
Urban Institute shows that the
poorest have gotten poorer
while the richest have gotten
much richer.
Even the hot demand for
certain highly-skilled workers
maybe contributing to income
inequality. Companies are
investing heavily to hire and
keep workers with
specialized skills in field such
as engineering and
healthcare. This leads to cuts
or automation in other
functions, pushing down
wages for workers in less
competitive jobs.
Income Inequality by Gender and
Race
* According to a study of
2017 income numbers by the
Institute for Women‘s
Studies, women of all races
and ethnicities were paid an
average 81.8% of the salaries
paid to men.
* The U.S. has the
highest level of income
inequality of any
industrialized nation,
according to Inequality.org.
TOP 4
POVERTY
29.2%
What is Poverty?
Poverty is one the common and
biggest problems our world is facing.
According to the World Bank
Organization, ―Poverty is hunger. Poverty
is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and
not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is
not having access to school and not
knowing how to read. Poverty is not
having a job, is fear of future, living one
day at a time.‖ Poverty has many faces,
changing from place to place and across
time, and has been described in many
ways.
In the site of Compassion.com, their
description about poverty encompasses
living conditions, an inability to meet basic
needs because food, clean drinking water,
proper sanitation, education, health care
and other social services are inaccessible.
There are different kinds of poverty.
First, Social Poverty encompasses
undervalued people groups, people with
few or no rights and people whose voices
have been silenced. Second, Educational
Poverty is the lack of access to school and
proper education. Third, Health Poverty
encompasses mental, physical and
emotional health of every individual. Next
is Spiritual Poverty. The lack of
understanding of God‘s love which is
difficult to resist despair. Fifth, Economic
Poverty the insufficiency and instability of
country‘s economic status. Lastly.
Environmental Poverty includes the crisis
of our physical surroundings.
Global Poverty in an overarching
world issue. Roughly one billion children
are living in poverty and every 10 seconds,
citizens across the globe die due to
poverty-related issues. Nearly 10 percent
of the world‘s population live in extreme
poverty, below the $1.90 per day poverty
line. Despite the many definitions, one
thing is certain; poverty is a complex
societal issue. No matter how poverty is
defined, it can be agreed that it is an issue
that requires everyone‘s attention. It is
very important that all members of our
society should work together to provide
the opportunities for all our members to
reach their full potential.
TOP 5
RELIGION AND CONFLICT
23.9%
Introduction
The New World Order cannot be
understood without accounting for the role
of religion and religious organizations.
During the Cold War, not much attention
was paid to the phenomenon of
nationalism and religion. What about
religious conflicts? Are we in for surprises
too? The answer is: yes probably. As late
as August 1978, a US Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) Paper asserted confidently
that "Iran is not in a revolutionary or even
a pre-Revolutionary situation." Roger
Williamson (1990) considers this the most
glaring example of Western
incomprehension and misconception of
Modern Islam. The fundamental mistake
of Western observers, he argues, is the
assumption that since Christianity plays
little direct role in shaping policy in
Western nations, the separation of religion
and political decision-making can be
assumed in the Middle East as well. Since
the fall of the Shah, research about the role
of religions in conflict dynamics has
increased. The amount of research,
however, lags considerable behind the
boom of studies of ethnic and nationalistic
conflicts.
Discussions
To get a better grasp of what religions or
religious organizations could do, to help to
promote a constructive conflict dynamic,
one could start by investigating
systematically which positive or negative
roles they play now. Consequently,
suggestions would be made about how to
reduce the negative and strengthen the
positive impact. Religious organizations
can act as conflicting parties, as
bystanders, as peace-makers and peace
builders.
WARS WITH A RELIGIOUS
DIMENSION
1. Mayanamar/Burma 1948 Buddhists vs.
Christians
2. Israel/Palestinian 1968 Jews vs. Arabs
)Muslims-Christians)
3. Northern Ireland 1969 Catholic vs.
Protestants
4. Philippines (Mindanao) 1970 Muslims
vs. Christians (Catholics)
5. Bangladesh 1973 Buddhists vs.
Christians
6. Lebanon 1975 Shiites supported by
Syria (Amal) vs. Shiites supported by Iran
(Hezbollah)
7. Ethiopia (Oromo) 1976 Muslims vs.
Central government
8. India (Punjab) 1982 Sikhs vs. Central
government
9. SudanWITH 1983 Muslims vs. Native
religions
10. Mali-Tuareg Nomads 1990 Muslims
vs. Central government
11. Azerbejdan 1990 Muslims vs.
Christian Armenians
12. India (Kasjmir) 1990 Muslims vs.
Central government (Hindu)
13. Indonesia (Aceh) 1990 Muslims vs.
Central government (Muslim)
14. Iraq 1991 Sunnites vs. Shiites
15. Yugoslavia (Croatia) 1991 Serbian
orthodox Christians vs. Roman Catholic
Christians
16. Yugoslavia (Bosnia) 1991 Orthodox
Christians vs. Catholics vs. Muslims
17. Afghanistan 1992 Fundamentalist
Muslims vs. Moderate Muslims
18. Tadzhikistan 1992 Muslims vs.
Orthodox Christians
19. Egypt 1977 Muslims vs. Central
government (Muslim) Muslims vs. Coptic
Christians
20. Tunesia 1978 Muslims vs. Central
government (Muslim)
21. Algeria 1988 Muslims vs. Central
government
22. Uzbekisgtan 1989 Sunite Uzbeks vs.
Shiite Meschetes
23. India (Uthar- Pradesh) 1992 Hindus vs.
Muslims
24. Sri Lanka 1983 Hindus vs. Muslims
Wars with a Religious Dimension
Further east, Muslims complain of the
Indian army's brutality towards them in
Kashmir, and of Indian Hindu's destruction
of the Ayodhya mosque in 1992. Islam, as
Samuel Huntington has put it, has bloody
borders (Huntington, 1993). It was
Huntington who recently provided the
intellectual framework to pay more
attention to the coming clash of
civilizations. Civilizations are
differentiated from each other by history,
language, culture, tradition and, most
importantly, religion.
He expects more conflicts along the
cultural-religious fault lines because (1)
those differences have always generated
the most prolonged and the most violent
conflicts; (2) because the world is
becoming a smaller place, and the
increasing interactions will intensify the
civilization- consciousness of the people
which in turn invigorates differences and
animosities stretching or thought to stretch
back deep in history; (3) because of the
weakening of the nation-state as a source
of identity and the desecularisation of the
world with the revival of religion as basis
of identity and commitment that
transcends national boundaries and unites
civilizations; (4) because of the dual role
of the West. On the one hand, the West is
at the peak of its power. At the same time,
it is confronted with an increasing desire
by elites in other parts of the world to
shape the world in non-Western ways; (5)
because cultural characteristics and
differences are less mutable and hence less
easily compromised and resolved than
political and economic ones; (6) finally,
because increasing economic regionalism
will reinforce civilization-consciousness.
 TOP 6
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
AND CORRUPTION
22.7%
Introduction
Corruption is a major cause of
poverty considering how it affects the poor
the most, eroding political and economic
development, democracy and more.
Corruption can be detrimental to the safety
and well being of citizens living within the
corrupted vicinity, and can cause an
increase in violence and physical threats
without as much regulation in the
government.
Discussions
No country is immune to
corruption. The abuse of public office for
private gain erodes people‘s trust in
government and institutions, makes public
policies less effective and fair, and siphons
taxpayers‘ money away from schools,
roads, and hospitals.
While the wasted money is
important, the cost is about much more.
Corruption corrodes the government‘s
ability to help grow the economy in a way
that benefits all citizens.
But the political will to build
strong and transparent institutions can turn
the tide against corruption. In our new
Fiscal Monitor, we shine a light on fiscal
institutions and policies, like tax
administration or procurement practices,
and show how they can fight corruption.
Political will can turn the tide against
corruption.
Corruption helps evade taxes
We analyze more than 180 countries and
find that more corrupt countries collect
fewer taxes, as people pay bribes to avoid
them, including through tax loopholes
designed in exchange for kickbacks. Also,
when taxpayers believe their governments
are corrupt, they are more likely to evade
paying taxes.
We show that overall, the least corrupt
governments collect 4 percent of GDP
more in tax revenues than countries at the
same level of economic development with
the highest levels of corruption.
A few countries‘ reforms generated even
higher revenues. Georgia, for example,
reduced corruption significantly and tax
revenues more than doubled, rising by 13
percentage points of GDP between 2003
and 2008. Rwanda‘s reforms to fight
corruption since the mid-1990s bore fruit,
and tax revenues increased by 6
percentage points of GDP.
Corruption also prevents people from
benefiting fully from the wealth created by
their country‘s natural resources. Because
the exploration of oil or mining generates
huge profits, it creates strong incentives
for corruption. Our research shows that
resource-rich countries, on average, have
weaker institutions and higher corruption.
Corruption wastes taxpayers’ money
The Fiscal Monitor shows that countries
with lower levels of perceived corruption
have significantly less waste in public
investment projects. We estimate that the
most corrupt emerging market economies
waste twice as much money as the least
corrupt ones.
Governments waste taxpayers‘ money
when they spend it on cost overruns due to
kickbacks or bid rigging in public
procurement. So, when a country is less
corrupt, it invests money more efficiently
and fairly.
Corruption also distorts government
priorities. For example, among low-
income countries, the share of the budget
dedicated to education and health is one-
third lower in more corrupt countries. It
also impacts the effectiveness of social
spending. In more corrupt countries
school-age students have lower test scores.
Corruption is also a problem in state-
owned enterprises, such as some countries‘
oil companies, and public utilities like
electric and water companies. Our analysis
suggests that these enterprises are less
efficient in countries with high levels of
corruption.
Where there is political will, there is a
way.
Fighting corruption requires political will
to create strong fiscal institutions that
promote integrity and accountability
throughout the public sector.
Based on the research, here are some
lessons for countries to help them build
effective institutions that curb
vulnerabilities to corruption:
Invest in high levels of transparency and
independent external scrutiny. This allows
audit agencies and the public at large to
provide effective oversight. For example,
Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay are
using an online platform that allows
citizens to monitor the physical and
financial progress of investment projects.
Norway has developed a high standard of
transparency to manage its natural
resources. Our analysis also shows that a
free press enhances the benefits of fiscal
transparency. In Brazil, the results of
audits impacted the reelection prospects of
officials suspected of misuse of public
money, but the impact was greater in areas
with local radio stations.
Reform institutions. The chances for
success are greater when countries design
reforms to tackle corruption from all
angles. For example, reforms to tax
administration will have a greater payoff if
tax laws are simpler and they reduce
officials‘ scope for discretion. To help
countries, the IMF has built
comprehensive diagnostics on the quality
of fiscal institutions, including public
investment management, revenue
administration, and fiscal transparency.
Build a professional civil service.
Transparent, merit-based hiring and pay
reduce the opportunities for corruption.
The heads of agencies, ministries, and
public enterprises must promote ethical
behavior by setting a clear tone at the top.
Keep pace with new challenges as
technology and opportunities for
wrongdoing evolve. Focus on areas of
higher risk—such as procurement, revenue
administration, and management of natural
resources—as well as effective internal
controls. In Chile and Korea, for example,
electronic procurement systems have been
powerful tools to curtail corruption by
promoting transparency and improving
competition.
More cooperation to fight corruption.
Countries can also join efforts to make it
harder for corruption to cross borders. For
example, more than 40 countries have
already made it a crime for their  State and local health regulations
companies to pay bribes to gain business
 Guidelines for cleanliness of facilities
abroad under the OECD anti-corruption and safe preparation of food practices
convention. Countries can also
aggressively pursue anti–money  Consumer actions when eating out
laundering activities and reduce  Improper food handling can occur
transnational opportunities to hide corrupt anywhere on the line from
money in opaque financial centers. manufacturer to consumer

Curbing corruption is a challenge that Food Safety From Farm to Table

requires persevering on many fronts, but
one that pays huge dividends. It starts with
political will, continuously strengthening
institutions to promote integrity and
accountability, and global cooperation.
TOP 7
FOOD AND WATER CONCERNS
18.2%
Consumer Awareness
According to Breene (2016), The
global food security challenge is
straightforward: by 2050, the world must
feed 9 billion people. The demand of food
must be 60% greater than it is today. The
United Nations has set ending hunger,
achieving food security and improved
nutrition.
Why is food security such a major
global challenge?
 The obvious reason is that
everybody needs food.
What causes it?
1. Population growth - varies considerably
across countries.
2. Changing tastes - diet is changing too
3. Climate change - 40% of the landmass
is arid
4. Water scarcity - 28% of agriculture lies
in water stressed regions.
5. Troubled farmers - Fewer and fewer
people are choosing farming as an
occupation.
Top 8
Lack Of Education
15.9%
Education is a human right. The
Convention on the Rights of the Child and
the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights recognize the essential role that
education plays in human and social
development.
“Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and
fundamental stages.”
Education is also one of the most
beneficial investments to support child
survival, growth, development and well-
being. Research suggests that half of the
reduction in the mortality of children
under 5 from 1970 to 2009 can be
attributed to the increase in the average
years of schooling of women of
reproductive age. Increased education
equity also decreases the likelihood of
conflict.As shown in the 2015 UNICEF
‗Investment Case for Education and
Equity‘ report, education contributes to
higher income, individual empowerment
and decreased poverty levels.
The optimism that characterized early
progress – build more schools and they
will come – will not reach the poorest
children nor children living in conflict,
refugees, internally displaced people nor
children who face discrimination based on
location, gender, disability or ethnicity.
Many of the children who are in school are
not learning. Education interventions are
not routinely evaluated for impact on
learning nor cost effectiveness. Funding
for education – domestic budgets and
external resources – is insufficient, and
does not always reach the children who
need it most.
PROBLEM SOLUTION
Solutions need to be data-driven and
context specific.
 Increasing investment for
basic education and more targeted
spending on the children who need it
the most
 Strengthening education
systems.
 Focusing interventions on
the barriers that prevent children from
going to school.
 Supporting local solutions
 Expanding early childhood
and pre-primary education
 Investing in data
 Facilitating continuity of
learning in crisis contexts.
 Innovating.
 TOP 9
SAFETY AND SECURITY
14.1%
Global Safety and Security in the 21st
Century
Security and safety are the central human
concern that includes numerous sub-
listings. We often think of economic
security, national security, energy security,
nuclear security, cyber security,
democratic and civil rights security,
personal security and health care security
as some examples. However, what is
becoming very clear is that we should all
be concerned with global security of our
common, shared biosphere. Global
security encompasses all of the above, but
even more importantly, it depends on our
environmental/ecological security. It also
requires the establishment of universal
human rights and civil liberties. The
achievement of global security will require
a complex, interconnected network of
humans and their activities in a rapidly
changing world. The focus must be on
global climate change and human
population growth, which are rapidly
emerging as the two most important
threats. The threat of nuclear weapons is
still with us, but its relative importance
may decline as global climate change and
human population growth continue to
degrade our biosphere. We must also focus
on the many types of pollution that
contribute to ecosystem instability and
species extinction. Wars contribute
immensely to societal instability and
environmental degradation. Wars represent
a form of carelessness which we no longer
can afford. Nuclear weapons should be
disassembled and wars halted. Military
disciplines must be regulated by an
international force, and expenditure of
large sums of money for military must be
prevented. Such uses of our resources are
archaic and obsolete. We have more
important problems to face and conquer.
To complicate the situation, we also need
to consider existing and emerging
infectious diseases. There is a paucity of
global infrastructure that is required to
combat them. No one will feel secure
when global epidemics hit. Natural
selection of humans via infectious diseases
will be cruel with immense suffering and
death.
The situation is grave, but there are actions
that can be taken that will ameliorate our
plight. We need responsible governmental
officials who respect and obey
international law. They must recognize
that the needs of the world community
must supercede national interests. Those
who refuse must be expelled from office.
Impeachment followed by severe
punishment must become a standard
consequence of dishonesty, corruption and
activities based on self-interest rather than
the public interest. If billions of dollars
had not been spent on military, just think
what we could have accomplished.
Universal human rights, birth control,
healthcare and education could have been
guaranteed for the same cost. Only if dealt
with at the global level can we effectively
counteract the consequences of climate
change. This will require moving cities
inland, managing an immense refugee
population, relocating agriculture, and
implementing conservation measures to
prevent species extinction. Humans will
need to have energy and food security as
well as cyber security if conservation
efforts in our declining world are to
succeed. Worldwide terrorism is another
threat to global security. Caused in part by
greed and incompetent leadership,
terrorism can be a direct consequence of
overpopulation, limited resource
availability and the resultant poverty and
personal frustration. Terrorists often
flourish where conditions cause the young
to outnumber the older, more staid
members of society, and where
opportunity is restricted. It can be a
transnational activity without borders, as is
the case today in many Arab nations. This
is one reason why terrorism is so
widespread in our current world, and why
this threat is continuously growing. No
single country can be held responsible, but
some are more responsible than others.
The U.S., for example, was defying UN
dictates and international law by initiating
wars on the basis of lies. U.S. policy, by
taking a lawless course, encouraged and
continues to encourage lawlessness by
others. It is promoting a world wide web
of terror. Recent reports have come to
exactly this conclusion although the causes
have been attributed to different factors,
depending on the political bias of specific
individuals.
Environmental/ecological security can be
improved by using scientific knowledge
and experimentation to shape public
policy. This is pressing because of the
increasing rate of global climate change.
The opportunity to act may be short lived.
Current droughts, extreme weather
fluctuations, floods and elevated
temperatures all indicate that the time
period to prevent disaster may have
already passed. Imbalances in public
health and economic provisions must be
corrected. Reduced energy usage coupled
to increased energy efficiency and the
development of alternative energy sources
will help alleviate the current imbalance.
Given that over three billion people
currently reside in states that cannot
provide the basis necessities of life, no one
should be surprised by the rise of
terrorism. Responsible democratic
governments must slowly be established,
not forcibly, but voluntarily. The
magnitude of the problem becomes
obvious when the root problem of
overpopulation is considered. International
aid and cooperation will prove to be
essential if we are to avoid the obvious
consequences of overpopulation. An
increased role of the United Nations and
other international organizations would be
highly desired. We must put time, money
and effort into these pursuits or security
will never be achieved.
To a safer world
What can be done to create a safer world?
Creating a safer world needs more and
other things than technological innovation
only. A safer world is connected to nature
and culture. It needs protection from
threats from nature wind, water, sun and
earth quakes, and is connected to all
cultural elements in society like people,
government, organizations, industry and
infrastructure. Reflecting on problems of
global safety is reflecting on complex
societal problems like earthquakes, floods,
tsunami's, flu pandemic, war, terrorism,
healthcare, economy and agriculture.
Multi-disciplinary knowledge on how to
handle societal complexity is highly
needed.
 TOP 10 standard of education, building more
industries so it will create job
LACK OF ECONOMIC
opportunities.
OPPORTUNITY AND
UNEMPLOYMENT
12.1%

UNEMPLOYMENT –

The lack of necessary skills for

employment, particularly among youth
under age 25. The economist etimates that
there maybe many as 290 million 15-24
year olds not participating in the labor
market.

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF THIS

ISSUE?

Being employed is important for

young people in order to feel accepted in
the society, therefore not having a job can
cause economic, cultural, and social
isolation.

WHAT CAUSES UNEMPLOYMENT?

 PERFORMANCE ISSUES
 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
 MISMATCH BETWEEN
AVAILABLE WORKERS AND
POSITIONS TO BE FILLED
 LACK OF EXPERIENCE
 VOLUNTARY
UNEMPLOYMENT

HOW CAN WE SOLVE THIS?

By ensuring the political stability,

controlling population growth in a country,
encouraging entrepreneurship, improving