Q.12. Write a note on World economic forum’s theme “Globalization 4.

0: Universal Purpose
of a company in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”

Globalization 4.0 –
The challenges associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution are coinciding with the rapid
emergence of ecological constraints, the advent of an increasingly multipolar international order, and
rising inequality. These integrated developments are ushering in a new era of globalization. Whether it
will improve the human condition will depend on whether corporate, local, national, and international
governance can adapt in time.

Globalization 4.0 has only just begun, but we are already vastly underprepared for it. Clinging to an
outdated mindset and tinkering with our existing processes and institutions will not do. Rather, we need
to redesign them from the ground up, so that we can capitalize on the new opportunities that await us,
while avoiding the kind of disruptions that we are witnessing today.

The unprecedented pace of technological change means that our systems of health, transportation,
communication, production, distribution, and energy – just to name a few – will completely transform.
Managing that change will require not just new frameworks for national and multinational cooperation,
but also a new model of education, including targeted programs for teaching people new skills fitted to
the new requirements of jobs. With advancements in robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the context of
aging societies, we will have to move from a narrative of production and consumption toward one of
sharing and caring.

How to Save the Planet Without Killing Economic Growth?

2. Sustainability and Our Climate - Nature provides a vital foundation for economic growth,
societal well-being, and human health. One calculation puts the value of services provided by nature at
around $125 trillion per year. But we are rapidly destroying it. We’ve lost 60% of wildlife populations
since 1970 and scientists recently warned us that we have just 12 years to avoid a climate catastrophe.
With key international decisions on climate change, oceans, and biodiversity due next year, 2020 could
be a turning point.

 Plastic deserves our special attention. The combination of innovation (by, for example, making
the recycling of plastic profitable) and pressure (by demanding less/no plastics from companies
and changing our consumption) we can diminish this big problem. Behavior change of
individuals is also very important. In one study, 50% of people put plastic bottles in the wrong
bin.
Inclusion: Education and Life Long Learning - Digital flows now exert a larger impact on GDP
growth than merchandise trade, making it easier for companies to globalize with less capital
intensive business models, yet also opening new digital divides.

 Countries that are the most robotized have the lowest unemployment rates. Therefore,
technology itself can be blamed for the divide.
 It is important to re-skill the existing workforce so that skills sets can be effectively
matched to jobs.
 There is a whole set of human skills that are going to be important in the future. The
ability to interact with clients, to create creative solutions, global skills: when talking
about digitalization, it’s not just knowing how to code, it’s knowing how to use and
apply technology. Complex problem solving and agile thinking are examples of things
that computers are not going to take away any time soon
 The World Economic Forum advises that Life Long Learning must become a global
entitlement; a fundamental right, as an extension on the right to education.

Inclusive Access to Technology - Ensuring financial inclusion is critical, and digitization can aid
in doing this. It’s important to open up the financial system to traditionally marginalized people
and the opening up of technological access is key to achieving this. Poorer communities need
access, especially as there is high creativity and entrepreneurship in such communities

 Rising digital inequality is as dangerous as rising income inequality, which has become
clearer as unrest around the world grows due to widening resource gaps.
 While there’s a digital divide, technology has made a significant contribution to society. We
shouldn’t overlook the role technology is playing to enable small and medium enterprises to
scale up rapidly. This has also proven beneficial to women and other marginalized groups
 Digital equality in many ways is easier to solve than physical divides like ensuring access
to clean drinking water, globally
How Do We Make Sure Technology Makes Life Better Not Worse?
In 2019, a lot of technology is reaching an important tipping point. Especially AI, Blockchain and
the implementation of 5G networks. 5G will decentralize computing, data and digital services.
This will result in a new focus on local economies.
1. 1. It should be inclusive. Open to all and making use of the power of diversity. When
designing goods and/or services, we should always start with inclusion in mind. If not,
the product will exclude a lot of people; with a disability, but also left-handed people,
etc.
2. The workforce is not yet ready for it; there is a great need to reskill people. New
technology could and should aid in this process.
3. It needs to be sustainable. Where Globalization 3.0 resulted in ecological disasters, 4.0
should be sustainable if it wants to be accepted by the masses.
4. It should create and sustain trust: the technology for instance should not compromise
our democratic processes, it should respect our privacy, and it should be secure (against
theft, fraud, etc.).

Q.10 - This year’s theme for 50th Annual meeting of World Economic Forum is
“Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. What role can governments play for
sustainable trade policies?

1. Digital technologies can drive inclusive and sustainable growth in low and middle-
income countries.
 Governments must develop policies to maximize the benefits from digitalization.
 If not managed well, the digital revolution could exacerbate inequalities.
Technologies are driving development: satellite data, artificial intelligence and cloud
computing are being used to detect illegal mining, tackle deforestation and manage
freshwater resources; drones and machine learning are increasing crop yields; e-learning is
making education cheaper and more accessible; and smart grids and solar panels are
bringing electricity to underserved rural areas.
If managed well, digitalization can open up new pathways for regional integration,
economic development and prosperity. However, gains from 4IR are unevenly distributed,
 both between and within countries. ODI research shows that, while expanding internet
penetration has boosted productivity by 11% in middle-income countries, the impact in low-
income countries is just 3%.
Low and middle-income countries (LMICs) urgently need to unlock the new possibilities of
digital technologies to drive inclusive and sustainable growth to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and ensure that no one is left behind. Unleashing the full
potential of technologies means scaling them faster, globally and in an appropriate way in
order to deliver on the 2030 Agenda in time, and ensure that the benefits of 4IR are
distributed inclusively and sustainably.
Here are four ways governments can help do this
a) Expand access for the bottom billion
b) Innovate for sustainability and job creation
c) Finance and scale tech for good
d) Update regulatory frameworks for the platform age

2. Strengthening public finance at all levels - Widening public policy space requires, among
other things, the necessary changes in fiscal policies. In other words, governments have to
formulate Sustainable Development Budgets in order to implement the Sustainable
Development Goals. Both the revenue (tax policy) and the expenditure (budget policy) sides of
fiscal policy must be marshalled. Governments can pursue proactive tax policies to resource
environmental and social policy goals and simultaneously fulfill their human rights obligations.
This includes, for example, taxing the extraction and consumption of non-renewable resources,
and adopting forms of progressive taxation that prioritize the rights and welfare of poor and
low-income people
3. Turning the commitment to policy coherence into practice – till date, the mainstream
approach to sustainable development has been one of tackling its three dimensions in their own zones,
complemented by (occasional) coordination between them. This approach has formally emphasized
coordination and dialogue but has not created a strong institutional basis for decision-making and policy
change across the three pillars. Nor has it adequately addressed human rights deprivations, inequalities
and social exclusion.

Governments committed in the 2030 Agenda to pursuing “policy coherence and an enabling
environment for sustainable development at all levels and by all actors”. In theory, all pillars of
sustainable development are equal, but in real policy the economic pillar is more equal than the
others. Decision-making and policy development have been severely handicapped by this
hierarchy amongst the ‘pillars’, as economic and finance policies do not necessarily adhere to
the requirements of planetary boundaries and human rights standards. To overcome this
hierarchy in decision-making and ensure real policy coherence in the interest of sustainable
development, it is essential to re-arrange and re-configure the institutional arrangements that
cover all aspects of the policy cycle: agenda-setting, policy analysis and formulation, decision-
making, implementation and evaluation.
4. Better use or creation of new legal instruments - The enormous gap between the promises
made by governments in the context of climate change agreements and their actions to date has
spurred a new approach to accountability: national-level litigation. In the last few years there has been a
significant increase in court cases that seek to challenge the climate change policy of governments.
Among the most successful of these is a landmark case against the government of the Netherlands in
2015, which led the Hague District Court to order the government to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions by 25 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2020. Since 2015, climate change cases that
challenge the inadequacy of government climate change policies have been filed in countries including
Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, UK, Norway, India, Colombia and the USA.

Litigation is also increasingly being used as a tool to enforce the responsibility of corporations,
particularly in the fossil fuel industry. With the growing visibility of the impacts of climate
change it can be expected that the number of successful cases will escalate in the coming years,
making litigation an increasingly effective tool for advancing action on climate change.
5. Refining measures and indicators of sustainable development. Almost three years after the
adoption of the 2030 Agenda the indicators to assess progress (or regression) in SDG
implementation are still being debated. The universality of the SDGs, their comprehensive
nature and interconnectedness are challenging most national statistics offices. There are still
enormous data gaps in critical areas such as poverty, climate change, environment, gender,
inequality and governance. To date, only 50 of the 169 SDG targets are ready for progress
assessment. Over half of the 232 indicators endorsed by members of the UN Statistical
Commission lack agreed measurement criteria (68) or sufficient data coverage (66) for regular
monitoring or reporting or both. Even worse, less than a third of the data needed for
monitoring the gender-specific indicators are currently available. As the monitoring and review
process continues, governments have to provide the necessary resources and develop
capacities to close these data gaps.
6. Improving regulation for sustainability and human rights. Setting rules and standards is a
central task of responsible governments and a key instrument of active policy-making.
However, governments have too often weakened themselves by adopting policies of
deregulation or ‘better regulation’ (which is in fact a euphemism for regulation in the interest
of the corporate sector). Instead, many governments have trusted in corporate voluntarism and
self-regulation of ‘the markets’.

 Governments should no longer allow companies and banks to grow in unlimited fashion.
‘Too big to fail’ should be translated into ‘too big to allow’.
 Governments should also fundamentally rethink their approach towards trade and
investment liberalization and place human rights, consumer protection and the
 principles of sustainable development at the core of all future trade and investment
agreements.
 Strengthened regulation is also needed in areas where existing mechanisms are weak or
ineffective, like e-commerce/digital trade and consumer protection. One example is the
regulation of the consumption and production of ultra-processed food and drink
products (UPPs). Their regulation should include policies to restrict the availability of
UPPs in schools, to limit the marketing of UPPs to children, the introduction of front-of-
pack (FOP) warning labels on foods and beverages that have a high (and mostly hidden)
content of sugar, salt and/or saturated fat, and the introduction of a sugar sweetened
beverage (SSB) tax, as recommended by the WHO.