ESG and Of Interest News
Women's Health Investment Outlook: 6% of Funding for Nearly 50% of the Population-Not Just a Gap, but Untapped White Space
January 20, 2026-Women's health represents a large and undercapitalized opportunity in global healthcare. Despite women and girls making up nearly half the world's population, women's health has captured just 6% of private healthcare investment. The fundamentals are strong, but funding remains limited and narrowly focused, historically confined to reproductive and maternal health.
More than 25 organizations from the investment community, industry, philanthropies and beyond provided insights for this comprehensive insight report, Women’s Health Investment Outlook. Developed in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, it addresses critical gaps in understanding investment flows in women's health, market opportunity and unmet need. To quantify private investment flows in women’s healthcare over the past five years, the report introduces the Women's Health Investment Index.
Major areas of unmet need and opportunity across high-burden, high-prevalence conditions that affect women uniquely, differently and disproportionately-such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause and Alzheimer’s disease -have been overlooked. A recent analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimates that effectively addressing these four therapeutic areas for women in the US could unlock a $100 billion-plus market opportunity by 2030.
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Source: World Economic Forum (WTO)
Investing in Blue Foods: Innovation and Partnerships for Impact
January 19, 2026--The future of global food systems hinges on their ability to harness the full spectrum of natural and human potential. Thisa href="https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Investing_in_Blue_Foods_2026.pdf" TARGET="_blank">report focuses on one of the most promising food systems opportunities: the development of the blue foods sector, which has the capacity to drive economic growth, improve nutrition and strengthen climate resilience.
Across Africa, blue foods already supply about 18% of total animal protein, often at a lower cost than meat or poultry. If blue foods production were doubled, the continent could unlock an additional $17 billion in GDP, reduce its protein gap by 25% compared to the global average, and generate millions of sustainable livelihoods.
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Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
Global Value Chains Outlook 2026: Orchestrating Corporate and National Agility
January 19, 2026-Global supply chains face a new operating reality- one defined by persistent volatility and disruptions embedded in the global economy. Leaders face a defining challenge: how can supply chains be designed to remain resilient, competitive and investable when uncertainty is not temporary, but structural?
Drawing on a multi-year collaboration between the World Economic Forum and Kearney, and informed by more than 100 expert consultations and insights from over 300 global executives, this report provides a practical, action-oriented playbook for corporate and public-sector leaders to navigate this shift.
For industry, it outlines how to redesign supply chains around orchestration, distributed scale and optionality to build structural agility and unlock growth under volatility.
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Source: World Economic Forum (WTO)
G20 Growth Outlook: 2026
January 14, 2026-The Group of 20 (G-20) constitutes around 85 per cent of the world output-bringing together the world's largest advanced and emerging economies. Any shift(s) in the growth rates across these economies offer us a glimpse into the broader trajectory of the world economy - which is set for uneven growth in 2026.
There is an important development-the growth momentum is increasingly concentrated across the emerging markets/economies with advanced/developed economies set to grow at slower rates.
With inflation pressures easing and monetary policy easing across the world, growth prospects across these major economies remain stark.
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Source: voronoiapp.com
Global Cooperation is Showing Resilience in the Face of Geopolitical Headwinds
January 9, 2026-The Global Cooperation Barometer 2026 reveals strong pressures on multilateral institutions are causing global cooperation to evolve rather than retreat.
While multilateral forms of cooperation declined, smaller and more agile coalitions of countries -and, at times, companies - were instrumental in maintaining overall cooperation levels.
Climate and technology saw strong increases in cooperation even in the face of headwinds, health and trade stayed broadly flat and there was a sharp drop of cooperation in peace and security.
Global cooperation is proving resilient even as multilateralism continues to face strong headwinds, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Cooperation Barometer 2026. However, cooperation is below where it needs to be to address critical economic, security and environmental challenges. Within a more complex and uncertain geopolitical context, open and constructive dialogue is a critical factor in identifying potential collaborative pathways that advance shared interests.
In its third year, the Global Cooperation Barometer 2026, developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, uses 41 metrics to assess the level of cooperation worldwide across five pillars: trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
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Source: World Economic Forum
A Tumultuous Year Tests Optimism Among American Retirement Savers
December 18, 2025-Surveying more than 3,000 Americans, PensionBee Happy Retirement Report finds retirement sentiment drops over 10% in 2025
Retirement optimism dropped by over 10% in 2025, according to new consumer sentiment data by PensionBee. Positive retirement sentiment peaked in March at 55% before dropping to just 44% by year's end.
2025 brought volatile markets, unprecedented tariffs, and the longest government shutdown in history.
PensionBee's 2025 Happy Retirement Report captures the impact of the year's events on 3,000 American retirement savers, with special focus paid to the actions and attitudes that underpin retirement sentiment.
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Source: PensionBee US
Mapping the global quantum ecosystem
December 17, 2025--A comprehensive analysis based on innovation, firm, investment, skills, trade and policy data
Abstract
Quantum technologies are moving from the lab to real-world impact, promising advances in computing, secure communications, and ultra-precise measurement. But who is driving this progress,and how is the global landscape evolving?
This joint EPO-OECD report offers an in-depth mapping of the worldwide quantum ecosystem,revealing where innovation is happening, how investment is growing, and what skills are most needed.
The report draws on unique data from patents, startups, investment flows, and workforce trends to show a fast-growing but uneven field. While the United States leads in innovation and funding, Europe, Asia, and other regions are building strong foundations. Both nimble startups and established companies play vital roles, and public support and international collaboration are key to future progress.
view OECD Mapping the global quantum ecosystem report
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Source: OECD
Quantum sector enters new phase after a decade of rapid growth, according to new OECD and EPO study
December 17, 2025--The quantum technology landscape has expanded rapidly over the past decade, with rising firm entry, increasing investment and strong growth in innovation across quantum communication, computing and sensing.
After this period of exceptional growth, the sector may now be entering a new phase where early rapid expansion gives way to more focused development and maturing technologies, according to a new study published today by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Patent Office (EPO)
Quantum technologies harness the unique behaviour of particles at atomic scales to sense, process and transmit information, with applications across health care, finance and industry, and potential to help address global challenges, from boosting productivity to tackling climate change to strengthening food security.
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Source: OECD
International Standards Proliferate, Reshaping Global Economy: Too Many Developing Countries Are Left Behind, Report Finds
December 11, 2025--A proliferating set of international standards-covering everything from food labeling to the specifications of 5G cellular networks-s steadily reshaping the global economic order, delivering hefty benefits to the wealthy nations and large multinational companies that set them while leaving many developing countries on the sidelines, according to a new World Bank report.
Today, standards are foundational economic infrastructure, as vital to prosperity as roads or ports, according to the World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development, which provides the first comprehensive analysis of the landscape of global standards. By making the transportation of goods seamless, the standardization of the shipping container boosted global trade to a greater extent than all of the trade agreements of the last 60 years, the report notes. Since the turn of the century, however, standards have also become weapons in trade wars: non-tariff measures such pesticide specifications or labeling requirements, for example, now affect 90 percent of global trade, up from just 15% in the late 1990s.
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Source: worldbank.org
Understanding Stablecoins
December 4, 2025-Stablecoins, a type of crypto asset, have seen significant growth and attention recently. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of stablecoins. It discusses market developments, use cases, potential benefits, associated risks, and the evolving international regulatory landscape. Stablecoin issuance has doubled over the past two years, driven by their use in crypto trades.
The future demand for stablecoins could arise from other use cases supported by enabling legal and regulatory frameworks. Stablecoins are part of the broader interest in asset tokenization. Stablecoins offer several potential benefits. Through tokenization, they could increase efficiency in payments through increased competition. Stablecoins also carry significant risks related to macro-financial stability, operational efficiency, financial integrity, and legal certainty. Stablecoins may contribute to currency substitution, increase capital flow volatility. These risks could be more pronounced in countries experiencing high inflation, weaker institutions, or diminished confidence in the domestic monetary framework. The regulatory landscape for stablecoins is evolving.
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Source: imf.org
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