World in Transition Needs to Launch Global US$125 Trillion Investment Boom for Profit to Secure a Sustainable Future

LONDON, Sept. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from Force for Good titled The World Investment Plan: Building the Transition to a Secure, Sustainable and Superior Future warns that the world is on a perilous trajectory, with turbulence from wars, climate shocks, technological disruption, migration and social unrest reflecting a deeper civilisational shift from the Industrial to the Information Age. Without bold intervention, democracy, already back to levels prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, risks backsliding further amid deepening systemic instability, stalled human progress, and escalating climate disasters.

The report sets out a US$125 trillion World Investment Plan through 2035, 98% suitable for profitable private capital participation, building infrastructure, climate defences, connectivity, healthcare, education and housing, with AI driving prosperity and resilience. Re-engineering risk, building enterprise systems globally and incorporating nature in asset pricing are key levers unlocking a positive future and drive constructive collaboration and competition.

Key findings include:

• Civilisational Transition Driving Turbulence. The metacrisis stems from the shift to the Information Age, unsettling power, economies and societies.
• Leadership Vacuum. The U.S. retreat from multilateral leadership and rising populism have left the world without shared direction.
• Democracy in Retreat. Global democracy has regressed to pre-1989 levels, with further erosion possible.
• Climate Disaster Escalating. CO₂ emissions hit 37.8 gigatonnes in 2024, warming reached 1.55°C, and the IPCC projects 2.5–3°C this century.
• Wealth Without Impact. Nearly US$700 trillion in global wealth exists, but only a trickle goes to development, with blended finance covering just 0.1% of the annual SDG need in 2024.
• Capital Markets are Essential. With US$270 trillion, they remain the only pool large enough to drive the transition.
• Catalyst Required to Change Direction. Transformation requires re-engineering global risk and enterprise systems to unleash a macro-economic "big bang" similar to those created by major liberalisations.

"This report shows that the world is falling into the trap of believing its problems can be solved through rivalry, politics, and war. The defining choice of our time is whether to continue down a path of turbulence and fragmentation, or to catalyse a global Big Bang that can drive the transition to the Information Age on a secure and sustainable foundation," said Ketan Patel, Chairman, Force for Good.

The World Investment Plan details the assets to be built by 2035, including:

• Renewable energy. c.189,000 solar farms, or c.7 million wind turbines, equivalent to c.19,000 nuclear reactors (US$18.9 trillion).
• Power systems. 1 million km of transmission and 16 million km of distribution lines (US$9.5 trillion).
• Buildings. 90 billion m² retrofitted (US$11.1 trillion).
• Climate defences. 290,000 km of seawalls and 260 major flood systems (US$1.3 trillion).
• Digital infrastructure. 40.1 million km of fibre optic cable and 28,800 data centres (US$5.4 trillion).
• Transport. 9.5 million km of roads, 480,000 km of rail, 321 ports and 2,500 airports (US$4.3 trillion).
• Housing. 266 million affordable homes (US$9.8 trillion).
• Healthcare. 26,270 hospitals with 3.4 million beds (US$2.5 trillion).
• Education. 483,000 schools with 7.2 million classrooms (US$5.2 trillion).

The report identifies four catalysts to deliver this agenda:

• A New Bretton Woods: An international compact transforming economies, risk and enterprise to unlock capital markets.
• Technology as an Inclusive Force: Closing the digital divide and creating markets across 19 core technologies, from AI to climate-tech.
• Coalitions of Nations and Institutions: Collaborating to deliver solutions and attract private capital.
• An International Pricing System: Embedding externalities into asset pricing to reorient capitalism for long-term prosperity.

"This report finally restores capital to its true place as one of the most powerful drivers of global social evolution to address the pressing challenges confronting humanity today," said Garry Jacobs, CEO and President of the World Academy of Art and Science.

About Force for Good
Force for Good's mission is to catalyse positive change in the world at a time of profound and disruptive transition. Its work combines an understanding of the forces driving the world's transition with an examination of the key levers of change, particularly capital and technology, to address global challenges and support the shift to a more secure, sustainable and superior future.

For further details please visit www.forcegood.org.