The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Ipsos survey has revealed that almost 9 out of 10 people globally want a more equitable and sustainable future post COVID-19. The survey of more than 21,000 adults from 28 countries revealed that 86% prefer the world to become more sustainable and equitable, rather than going back to how it was before the pandemic started. In addition, 72% would like their lives to change significantly.
In all countries, those who share this view outnumber those who don’t by a very significant margin (more than 50 percentage points in every country except South Korea). A preference for the world to change in a more sustainable and equitable manner is most prevalent across the Latin America and Middle East-Africa regions, as well as in Russia and Malaysia. It appears that COVID-19 crisis has broken down cultural barriers, giving way to significant social momentum towards systemic change for a more sustainable and equitable world, according to WEF.
READY FOR SIGNIFICANT CHANGE
Globally, 86% of all adults surveyed agree that they “want the world to change significantly and become more sustainable and equitable rather than returning to how it was before the COVID-19”. Of those, 46% strongly agree and 41% somewhat agree, while 14% disagree (10% somewhat and 4% strongly). Russia and Colombia top the list of countries that strongly or somewhat agree with that statement at 94%. They are followed by Peru (93%) Mexico (93%) Chile (93%) Malaysia (92%), South Africa (91%) Argentina (90%) and Saudi Arabia (89%).
The countries that are most change averse – disagreeing somewhat or strongly disagreeing with the statement – are South Korea (27%), Germany (22%), Netherlands (21%), US (21%) and Japan (18%).
OPTIMISTIC LATIN AMERICA
Furthermore, the survey reveals that 72% of adults across all 28 countries want their lives to change significantly rather than returning to what it was like before the COVID-19 crisis (30% strongly and 41% somewhat), while the other 29% disagree (21% strongly and 8% somewhat).
Latin America stands out for its optimism, with Mexico, Colombia and Peru in the top five countries strongly or somewhat agreeing. Agreement is also high South Africa (86%), Saudi Arabia (86%, Malaysia (86%) and India (85%). By contrast, at least two out of five adults in the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, the US, UK and Canada long for their life to just return to how it was before the pandemic.
CRITICAL VULNERABILITIES
Commenting on the results of the survey, Dominic Waughray, Managing Director of WEF stated: “The Great Reset is the task of overhauling our global systems to become more equitable and sustainable, and it is more urgent than ever as COVID-19 has exposed the world’s critical vulnerabilities. But the technology to transform things tends to outpace the human will to change. In six months, the pandemic has systematically broken down this cultural barrier and we are now at a pivot point where we can use the social momentum of this crisis to avert the next one.”
The findings have been shared by WEF ahead of its 4th Annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit.
Sign up for our newsletter
