Insights

AI's rapid advancement, especially in warfare, risks a catastrophic "Chernobyl moment" due to the absence of shared regulatory rules. Isaac Asimov's 1941 Three Laws of Robotics—preventing harm to humans, obeying human orders, and self-preservation—offer a concise ethical framework adaptable to AI governance. Current efforts, such as Anthropic's stance against AI use in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, are limited and insufficient globally. A broader, treaty-like approach is needed where AI systems are programmed to prioritize human safety, promote humanity's welfare, and default to inaction in uncertain ethical situations. Despite challenges in implementation, such principles could guide responsible AI development and help avoid disastrous consequences.
Education
Could revisiting Asimov’s laws help us avoid AI’s ‘Chernobyl moment’?
Europe faces a housing crisis fueled by scarce social housing, rising short-term rentals, and stagnant wages, impacting affordability and energy costs amid climate challenges. In Catalonia, Spain, where social housing is under 3%, a new model treats housing as a human right and a welfare pillar, promoting affordability and low carbon emissions through collaboration among public authorities, non-profits, businesses, and cooperatives. Projects like Barcelona’s Casa Bloc and eco-friendly buildings in Sitges demonstrate sustainable, affordable living with features such as passive heating and social support. Supported by municipal policies and cooperative investment, this approach addresses inequality and climate goals, though challenges like high land values and costs remain.
Latin America | Financial services
Europe needs affordable, low‑carbon homes – here’s how Barcelona is reimagining its housing system
The temporary ceasefire in the Gulf has led to a sharp drop in oil prices after a historic surge driven by the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which had effectively closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz. This strait typically handles around 20% of global oil supply, and its disruption caused severe supply shortages and price volatility, with Brent crude futures volatility rising from 30% to 90%. Alternative pipelines exist but have limited capacity, making the supply shortfall significant. While immediate oil supply could resume rapidly thanks to intact production facilities and released tanker volumes, the geopolitical risk remains high. Iran's control over the strait and a potential diminished US security role could sustain elevated oil price volatility and risks long-term market instability.
Latin America | Financial services
Iran ceasefire has brought a sudden fall in oil prices – but this pause underscores the volatility in the market
Despite rising global fragmentation, international cooperation in space exploration remains robust due to its strategic importance in security, communications, and navigation. The growing challenges of space debris and orbital congestion necessitate updated global treaties like the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Collaboration persists among major space powers, including the US, China, and the European Union, while private companies such as SpaceX are increasingly entering the sector, intensifying orbital competition. National agencies like Spain’s Space Agency focus on autonomy and innovation, developing domestic satellite and launcher capabilities, while aligning with broader European goals through the European Space Agency’s coordinated strategies for sustainable and secure space access.
Spain | Education
Space, the final frontier of global cooperation
Corruption remains deeply entrenched in Ukraine despite Russia’s war and specialized anti-corruption institutions. Recent scandals and government reshuffles reveal that fighting corruption is not a political priority, as appointments often reflect loyalty and expertise rather than anti-corruption commitment. Ukraine’s governance model, characterized by oligarchic influence and weak separation of powers, impedes rule of law reforms. Sustainable anti-corruption efforts require a broader overhaul, including judiciary independence and accountable institutions. Such transformation is essential for Ukraine’s EU accession and demands coordinated efforts from Kyiv and Brussels.
Ukraine
The Rule of Law in Ukraine – More Than Combating Corruption
Asia and the Pacific's economies heavily rely on ocean health, which supports jobs, exports, food security, and community resilience tied to reefs and mangroves. The region's ocean economy is rapidly growing, highlighting ocean health as a critical economic factor. Degradation of marine ecosystems increases disaster recovery costs and weakens industries like tourism and fisheries. Investing in ocean conservation and sustainable practices demonstrates positive economic returns by reducing risks and attracting private capital. Innovative financing mechanisms like blue bonds and debt-for-nature swaps facilitate funding for marine protection. To sustain growth and reduce future costs, policies must integrate ocean health into fiscal planning, use public finance to leverage private investment, and establish regulatory frameworks for scalable conservation and restoration efforts.
Panama, South Africa | Financial services, Health
Why Asia and the Pacific Can’t Afford to Ignore Ocean Health
Philanthropy is increasingly supporting non-profits and governments in the Global South to drive system change using outcomes data. Successful data-driven innovation goes beyond collecting facts; it requires changing daily practices. Key lessons include motivating data collection through positive incentives rather than penalties. For example, Generation India restructured payments to training providers, linking more compensation to verified job outcomes, boosting job placement rates. Similarly, Brazil’s Lemann Foundation combines funding, assessments, and cash awards for schools achieving literacy targets, encouraging collaboration and improved results. These approaches show that integrating data with supportive incentives can effectively enhance public service delivery and impact.
Education, Health
How non-profits and governments use data to drive real system change
American democracy favors charismatic, confident "alpha" personalities, often excluding quieter individuals who feel politics is not for them, including many women, young people, and minorities. This structural bias limits diverse participation and sidelines valuable perspectives. Citizens' assemblies, which randomly select ordinary people to deliberate and recommend on public issues, offer a promising solution by empowering shy or initially reluctant voices to contribute thoughtfully, thus broadening democratic engagement beyond traditional popularity contests.
No Shy Person Left Behind
Generative AI is being introduced in courts to assist with tasks like drafting summaries and identifying precedents but should not replace human judges in decision-making, even for "simple" cases. Although some jurisdictions use AI to expedite mechanical cases, relying on AI threatens core justice principles, including the right to be heard by a human. AI lacks the capacity to understand human values, context, or empathy, making it unfit to judge legal matters. Using AI for adjudication risks a two-tier justice system where some receive fair trials, and others are governed by machines, undermining fundamental human rights protections.
Why AI shouldn’t be used even to decide ‘simple’ court cases
The rapid adoption of AI in healthcare challenges the adequacy of informed consent as the primary legal and ethical basis for using health data in AI development, especially under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. Informed consent faces structural limitations, requiring patients to agree to medical procedures, digital record creation, and future AI training without fully understanding data reuse risks. This results in diluted patient autonomy. The paper highlights these challenges and calls for alternative governance frameworks that complement informed consent, emphasizing the need for improved data protection strategies in AI healthcare applications.
The imaginary of informed consent: Rethinking approaches to data use for AI in healthcare
Procter & Gamble is deeply integrating AI across its operations to enhance creativity, democratize knowledge, and boost productivity while maintaining human oversight. AI acts as a "cybernetic teammate," helping teams generate more and better ideas quickly. By creating AI-powered databases, P&G has vastly increased employee access to decades of consumer insights, unlocking hidden demand for knowledge. Despite AI's capabilities, P&G emphasizes that human observation and empathy remain crucial for understanding consumer needs and making final decisions. Leadership remains accountable for outcomes, using AI as a tool rather than a replacement in decision-making.
From Strategy to Shelf: How P&G Is Deploying AI
As AI systems increasingly influence all sectors, governance discussions have largely centered on model transparency, fairness, accountability, and alignment. However, effective AI depends fundamentally on the quality and governance of input data. Data governance is the foundation of AI governance and is undergoing transformative shifts in defining what data is, how it is curated, who controls its use, and the institutional frameworks that oversee it. These changes reflect AI’s capabilities and risks, reshaping data governance across ten key areas.
Education
Data Governance in the AI Era: 10 Shifts Redefining Data, Institutions, and Practice
Despite extensive investments in statistical systems and open data initiatives, official data remains challenging to discover, interpret, and apply due to issues of reusability rather than availability. Users face fragmented portals, inconsistent terminology, and siloed datasets, making data functionally inaccessible despite being open. The International Monetary Fund’s StatGPT report highlights how artificial intelligence can improve the navigability, interpretability, and actionability of official statistics, addressing these persistent usability challenges and moving from mere data access to meaningful engagement with open data.
StatGPT and the Fourth Wave of Open Data
The war in Iran has led to higher UK mortgage costs by driving up global energy and fertilizer prices, which in turn push UK inflation to around 4%. This inflationary pressure limits the Bank of England's ability to cut interest rates and has caused government bond yields to rise, increasing banks’ funding costs and mortgage rates. UK two-year fixed mortgage rates have risen from about 4.8% to 5.5%, adding roughly £90 to monthly payments for a typical borrower. The UK’s reliance on energy imports and a sluggish economy exacerbate these effects, resulting in higher mortgage payments amid weaker income growth and ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
Financial services
Why the war in Iran will make your UK mortgage more expensive
Central Asia's private sector faces significant climate risks amid regional carbon neutrality goals for 2050–2060. A survey of 167 firms revealed that 65% expect climate risks to majorly impact operations within 5–7 years, yet only 39% use climate risk assessments or ESG due diligence. Awareness of long-term climate financial risks is low, and 90% lack established sustainability and compliance programs. While social standards related to labor practices are more developed, environmental and governance practices lag. Kazakhstan leads in mandatory ESG reporting, but ESG regulatory frameworks remain nascent across the region. To meet decarbonization targets, the private sector must enhance ESG integration, risk management, and proactive environmental practices.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan | Financial services
Advancing Private Sector Climate Readiness in Central Asia
Papua New Guinea’s decentralization of health services exposed critical leadership gaps, prompting the government to launch middle management training in 2018 and the Health Executive Leadership Development Program (HELDP) in 2023 for senior leaders. HELDP’s intensive, practice-based training improved leadership confidence, decision-making, and alignment with national health priorities among over 110 graduates. The program fostered collaboration, empowered women leaders, and enhanced health service delivery, data use, and team communication. Despite its high cost, HELDP showed transformative impact by equipping leaders to manage resources efficiently and pursue innovative practices, contributing to strengthened health system performance nationwide.
Africa | Financial services, Health
Transforming Health Care Leaders in Papua New Guinea
Manufacturing employment expansion significantly boosts labor productivity in low-productivity developing and emerging economies, supporting manufacturing-led growth as a viable strategy for catch-up development. However, maximizing these benefits requires integrated policies that concurrently enhance institutional quality, technological infrastructure, and human capital. Targeted industrial policies addressing multiple structural constraints can effectively promote productivity growth and structural transformation in low-income economies.
South Africa, Viet Nam
When Manufacturing Matters Most: Structural Transformation and Productivity Growth Trajectories in Developing and Emerging Economies
Global AI governance initiatives have grown but remain ineffective due to vagueness, lack of authority, and repetition. Challenges such as geopolitical tensions, institutional gridlock, and AI’s complex nature hinder the creation of impactful governance. To address this, a new framework evaluates the political legitimacy of global AI governance efforts, aiming to clarify why existing initiatives lack influence and to identify paths for stronger international cooperation. The framework is applied to key issues like regulating lethal autonomous weapons and safety testing for general-purpose AI.
Education, Health
A Framework for Evaluating Global AI Governance Initiatives
Marten Scheffer explores how societies have historically undergone dramatic transformations by tipping out of crisis, using insights from complex systems, neuroscience, and history. He examines mechanisms behind past social changes, such as the end of slavery and the collapse of civilizations, revealing forces that both drive transformation and resist it, including entrenched corporate and oligarchic interests. Scheffer argues that while a dark future is possible, it is not inevitable, offering a scientifically grounded roadmap showing that even small individual actions can contribute to a fundamental societal shift toward sustainability and renewal.
Tipping Out of Trouble: How Societies Transformed and How We Can Do So Again
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significant potential to transform healthcare when scaled responsibly, but faces barriers including fragmented data systems, regulatory uncertainty, and workforce gaps. OECD countries are addressing these challenges through strategies and action plans guided by a comprehensive policy checklist. This checklist focuses on four pillars: enabling data and capacity, implementing oversight guardrails, engaging stakeholders, and deploying trustworthy AI. Collaborative, cross-border policies are essential to balance innovation, safety, economic benefits, and public trust in healthcare AI.
Health, Education
Scaling Artificial Intelligence in Health

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