Navigating Uncertainty Today For A Better Tomorrow

We live in a world of great political, economic, and environmental flux.

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UN projections suggest that the global population may not peak this century as we had previously thought. Extreme climate events have become commonplace—in 2017 alone, we saw unusually widespread flooding affecting more than 41 million people across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.

It seems that sudden and major changes have become the new norm, and that India sits at their heart. Developments such as our phasing out of fossil fuel cars, pioneering commitments against plastic pollution and job disruption from automation are all creating fertile ground for systemlevel shifts. But as Indian political leaders grapple with these issues and many more that pose a risk—and an opportunity— for development, how can they find a way forward amidst such nonlinear, unpredictable change?

Forum for the Future’s new report, ‘Living in nonlinear times’, calls on leaders to better understand what’s shaping the future, in order to effectively navigate today’s complex times and unlock new opportunities for sustainability. We need a system-wide understanding of emerging trends that will impact India’s future, how they are linked, and also how we are part of ongoing processes of change. Only then can our leaders make better decisions that ensure that we survive and thrive in the future. The report describes ‘signals of change’ in seven different areas—real-life examples of disruption and/or innovation around the world that serve as proof points of change in motion. It considers their implications for the future and points out questions that leaders and decision makers need to consider in order to understand where different sectors are headed and the opportunities they can harness to help deliver a more sustainable future.