The World Economic Forum (WEF) projects global trade to grow moderately by 3.3 percent next year due to slow developments in sustainability and internet connectivity in developing countries.

WEF issued the forecast during the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings in New York last week which was attended by over 1,400 business leaders, policymakers and leaders of international and civil society organizations.

Based on their discussions, WEF said only 17 percent of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ targets are on track for 2030.

“Philanthropy has proven essential in driving progress across many critical areas, yet only 11 percent of this is represented by corporate philanthropy and only 5 percent of that is allocated to climate-related issues,” the global institution explained.

The relatively smaller financing for climate change mitigation comes even after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned governments and businesses of a $97.3 billion economic loss in this decade in Southeast Asia alone if sustainability efforts are delayed.

Global hurdles

“Meeting the challenge of the climate crisis is the biggest economic opportunity the planet has known since the industrial revolution, literally everything has to be changed,” former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry said.

WEF said the gap between reality and economic goals has been also reflected in its economists’ survey this year which showed the majority or 56 percent of the respondents deemed green and energy transition as a major global economic growth driver in the next five years.

Meanwhile, WEF said 2.6 billion people still lack access to reliable internet, of which 95 percent live in the Global South or developing countries.

In the Philippines, Filipinos pay much higher for internet services at 2 percent of gross national income per person compared to Singapore’s 0.2 percent, Brunei’s 0.3 percent and Vietnam’s 0.4 percent, data from the World Bank reveals.

In terms of internet speed, the Philippines also performed poorer, with a median download speed of 28 Mbps compared with Singapore’s 95 Mbps and Brunei’s 74 Mbps.

WEF’s economists survey shows 73 percent of respondents believe technological transformation will be a critical driver of global economic growth until 2029.

Meanwhile, 95 percent of them said developing countries must improve and add infrastructure to boost socioeconomic progress.