Critical Questions

Demography and Migration: ageing or declining populations will affect western countries in particular and impact on approaches to migration, taxation, pensions, employment and public services.

Resource pressures: pressures on the world’s natural resources will grow. Rapid growth in some developing economies and growing consumption in the developed world will increase competition for energy, water, forests and land. The impacts of climate change are more dangerous that was previously calculated. The world’s biological, social and economic systems will be damaged by flooding and drought, lower crop yields. Climate change will increasingly be a barrier to development and a factor in instability; demand for energy in particular will grow.

Energy Scarcity: Upgrading and building oil pipeline networks in producer and transit countries will present economic, technological and political challenges. A world-wide shortage of refining capacity will continue to affect the price of refined petroleum. Supply and demand in the world energy market will diversify, driven by the emergence of new technologies and suppliers, and the need to reduce carbon emissions. The long-term shift towards renewables and better energy efficiency will gather pace in developed countries. Nuclear power will play a greater role. Environmental degradation and the effects of climate change will constrain development, placing ever greater importance on the effective management of natural resources and the revenues they generate.

Good governance: Local government is intended to be a democratic institution that reflects local meanings with a degree of relative autonomy in exercising its functions. Those functions include the provision and delivery of state services to local populations, but also acting as an advocator in securing the delivery of publicly desired goods by private and voluntary organisations. Local government is given autonomy to eco the needs and wants of local populations within spatial context which vary from one locality to another. By allowing adaptive policies of the state to vary from area to area the varied needs and wants of the citizens are better met. This will ensure that needs and wants of citizens are easily expressed and voiced to be heard by trusted familiar faces.

Misuse of Arms and explosives: The challenge to all governments to help control the misuse of arms is urgent. To achieve this, they must invest more resources in professional policing based on the agreed international standards. Only then can governments provide protection to women, men, and children through legitimate security forces that respect human rights, and gain the widespread support from civil society that is needed to curb the flow and use of illicit arms.

Media: self-confident citizenry means that people are less likely to participate in conventional politics resorting instead to less conventional means such as protests, joining NGOs, engagement in various social groups in order to get their views across.
The media perhaps could shift the interest from allegations of impropriety which alienates public from the political system by building on dynamics of social capital channeled toward meaningful concerns.