Four main issues are expected to take precedence this year for all international institutions, in particular the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The first topic is undoubtedly global climate change and the anomalies it causes.
On the one hand, there are heavy rains, extreme storms, flooding and destruction to contend with, while on the other, severe drought threatens global agriculture and food production, carrying the risk of a further rise in agricultural costs and food prices. For this reason, throughout 2022 we will continue to discuss how to slow down climate change, mitigate its effects and protect the world from severe natural disasters, starvation and not being able to access clean water resources.
The second important topic is energy transformation and the security of its supply. The climate change-related issue means accelerating the trend toward renewable energy production, which is an indispensable need for human life, while ensuring minimal carbon emissions into the air.
However, having said that, even the European Union, which launched a major campaign to ban coal and oil altogether, is aware that the security of the supply of energy must be taken into consideration during this energy transformation to reach the net-zero carbon target. In order to do so, the bloc is preparing to announce new legislation that includes nuclear power. Moreover, the plan to classify some nuclear power and natural gas projects as green investments has already been completed.
It is expected that the bill, which includes the criteria for projects to be classified as green investments, will reach the European Commission's agenda this month. Of course, projects to save the world from the effects of climate change and comprehensive energy transformation projects require serious financing. In this context, an investment of $5 trillion is required until 2030, but the leading developed economies have only promised $1 trillion of support and developing countries need to find $4 trillion more in resources.
In this situation, another important discussion topic is rare minerals and metals. From new generation electric cars to wind power plants, the energy conversion and net-zero carbon projects depend on rare minerals and metals whose production is controlled by very few countries.
Therefore, in 2022, the discussion on rare minerals and metals will be at the forefront.
The third important topic will be zero waste and next-generation plastics and chemicals. As important as global climate change is, global waste management and the protection of soil and clean water resources are just as important.
There are already 1.6 million square kilometers (617,764 square miles) of floating plastic islands in the world's oceans, which is a great threat to Earth and ocean ecology. It is critical that the plastics and chemicals we use in our daily lives do not harm nature. For this reason, 2022 will be the year where important negotiations will be held under the umbrellas of the U.N., the OECD and the WTO. Historical decisions will be taken, and extremely important and detailed international regulations will come to life regarding plastics and chemicals. Subsequently, countries will have to make very important national regulations regarding plastics and chemicals.
The fourth important title, "new approaches to development," on the other hand, contains many different details.
New approaches to development
In general terms, the discussions on the concept of development between 1930 and 1960 were mostly shaped around healing the wounds of World War I and increased industrialization within the capitalist system. Subsequently, humanitarian development had the chance to become a priority topic in economic literature only after 1960. The transition from agriculture to industrialization between 1750 and 1960 was a process that continued through the first and second Industrial Revolutions. The humanitarian-development approach that came to the fore between 1960 and 1990, coupled with important concepts such as fundamental rights, freedoms and employee rights helped the understanding of social and public development gain momentum.
Since the 1990s, a new process started in line with the sustainable development goals (SDG). The 2000s were an important time for the 17 SDGs defined under the U.N. However, a lack of motivation and appetite for development is observed in most countries, from Africa to Asia, Latin America to Eurasia. This is because the new approaches to development will remove a blockage and redirect finances towards this transformation.
In sum, in 2022, the discussions of new approaches to development will focus on how to finance new models and the question of what issues could reinvigorate countries to develop will arise. In addition, the restructuring of the state, the creation of a self-confident real sector and small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) networks, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other systems to accelerate development will be discussed in detail.