AC/UNU Millennium Project
Updating the Global Challenges Facing Humanity
15. Global Ethics
How can ethical considerations become more routinely incorporated into global decisions?

This is the short description of the challenge as appears in the print version of the 2006 State of the Future report. The more complete version of this challenge along with actions to address it, graphs, and indicators to measure change is available on the CD-ROM included with the report.
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General Description

The combination of $1 trillion paid in government bribes, over $2 trillion in organized crime, proliferation of terrorism, and the trivial entertainment that floods our minds with unethical behavior cries out for leadership that is far more ethical. Public morality based on religious metaphysics is challenged daily by growing secularism, leaving many unsure about the moral basis for decisionmaking. The speed at which the fabric of life has begun to change seems beyond the ability of most people and institutions to comprehend.

Rapidly advancing technology promises god-like control within our lifetimes, with many unknown ethical implications. Do we have the right to rewrite genetic codes creating thousands of new life forms or genetically change ourselves and future generations into new species? Is it right for humans to merge with technology, as one way to prevent technological hegemony over humanity? Is there a balance between supporting free inquiry and making information available that could cause significant catastrophes? Could the technical means to prevent terrorism lead to e-fascism? Experts speculate that the world is heading for a “singularity”—a time in which technological change is so fast and significant that we today are incapable of conceiving what life might be like beyond that point.

Globalization and advanced technology allow fewer people to do more damage and in less time than ever before. Hence the welfare of anyone should be the concern of everyone. Such platitudes are not new, but the consequences of their failure will be quite different in the future than in the past. Yet new technologies also allow fewer people to help more than ever before as well.

The proliferation of NGOs, global news media, and self-organizing Internet blogs are new forces for transparency, providing some checks on the abuse of power. Switzerland has started repatriating assets stolen by corrupt officials. Transparency International exposes 70 corrupt countries. The World Bank lists unethical companies and individuals on its Web site and has begun producing indicators of good governance and taking them into account in its decisions with governments. Corporate ethics indexes and UN treaties, plus new journals, civil society forums, and multi-religious dialogues, address global ethics in decisionmaking. Over 2,000 businesses have joined the UN’s Global Compact to use global ethics in decisionmaking. The International Criminal Court has tried political leaders, and the world’s two richest entrepreneurs are putting over $60 billion into international philanthropy. The synergies among the more than 16,000 ISO standards improve the ethics in decisions around the world.

Collective responsibility for global ethics in decisionmaking is embryonic but growing. Unfortunately, religions and ideologies that claim moral superiority give rise to “we-they” splits, which is not helping to solve world problems and can make them worse. Collaboration across national and institutional boundaries, as well as religious and ideological ones, seems necessary to address the Global Challenges. Generating the moral will to act across such different systems may require acknowledgment of global ethics.

Please suggest edits to this paragraph:


Approaches to address this challenge

Challenge 15 will be addressed seriously when corruption decreases by 50%, when ethical business standards are internationally recognized and regularly audited, when essentially all students receive education in responsible citizenship, and when there is a general acknowledgment that global ethics transcends religion and nationality. By addressing the 14 other Global Challenges through multinational corporations, governments, and a range of international organizations, we add ethical considerations to global decisionmaking. Some individuals are organizing themselves around specific ethical issues via the Internet. Others explicitly try to develop global ethics, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNESCO’s Universal Ethics Project, the Commission on Global Governance, and the Institute for Global Ethics. Educating children to become responsible citizens will influence adults and thus the entire population. UNICEF estimates that it would cost $7 billion a year over 10 years to educate the world—perhaps a mission for the newly expanded Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

Global ethics must not only correspond to major religious morals, it should also engage both believers and nonbelievers in a new alliance that creates a sense of “being with” all humankind—including “futurekind,” so that we act in the interests of future generations. We need more effective ways to control lobbying, reduce greed and self-centeredness, encourage honor and honesty, promote parental guidance to establish a sense of values, reduce barriers to the freedom of inquiry, encourage respect for legitimate authority, support the identification and success of the influence of role models, implement cost-effective strategies for global education for a more enlightened world, make behavior match the values people say they believe in, and spread the Olympic spirit. A global process should be initiated that leads to an international code of conduct that empowers a multilateral body like the UN to monitor it, including enforcement of international treaties equally among all nations. Wasting time is a reliable indicator of unethical approaches.

Please suggest other actions to address this challenge or edits to the ones above:

Regional Considerations

Africa: The world was ineffective when 800,000 Rwandans, countless Congolese, and 400,000 in Darfur were slaughtered. Most of the lowest-rated governments by Transparency International are in Africa; hence, the region is unable to raise its voice in global decisionmaking due to weak leadership and rampant corruption. An African Journal of Business Ethics was recently launched.

Please suggest edits concerning Africa:

Asia and Oceania: The rapid urbanization of Asia forces so many decisions so quickly that there is little time to consider the ethical implications. For instance, is it right to develop first and then clear up the environment second? Many wanting to catch up with the industrialized West are uncomfortable with free-market capitalism. Some do not believe there are common global ethics and maintain that the pursuit to create them is a western notion. The Japanese creator of the Kyoto Prize has endowed a new award honoring outstanding international figures in ethics.

Please suggest edits concerning Asia and Oceania:

Europe: The European integration process is helping establish ethical standards. Yet, increased non-European immigration rises new ethical challenges. The Wittenberg Center has established five areas of future impact by global ethics: sustainability and global governance, corporate citizenship and new alliances, globalization and international organizations, anti-corruption and integrity management, and discourse among cultures.

Please suggest edits concerning Europe:

Latin America: A new ethical code has emerged involving ecological ethics, human rights, democracy, free-market ethics, and minority protection. But will a new religion be necessary to replace the moral force of old religions?

Please suggest edits concerning Latin America:

North America: The U.S. Inspector General reported that nearly $9 billion spent on Iraq reconstruction could not be properly accounted for. Decisionmaking software could prompt users through ethical considerations of their decisions. The Institute for Global Ethics lists five values identified around the world: respect, honesty, compassion, fairness, and responsibility. Socially responsible investment funds are growing. Ethics and values of the region are highly influenced by a tradition of competition and winning for its own sake. The need to collect large corporate and private donations is reducing ethics in political decisionmaking.

Please suggest edits concerning North America:

If you have a suggestion for a graphic representation to measure change on this challenge, please indicate the source(s) of data:

Additional Comments
Please suggest any additional comments concerning this challenge:



Thank you for your participation. The results will be sent to you in the 2007 State of the Future in August 2007.



Survey conducted by the Millennium Project of the ACUNU