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Globalisation is fracturing. That's a big problem for net zero, experts say.

The World Economic Forum is in the middle of its future-focused Annual Meeting of the New Champions. The central theme is how to prevent globalisation falling apart.

Jennifer Duke
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Australia has taken steps to stabilise relations with China, but as a small player much of the global economy is down to the US. AAP Image/Richard Wainwright.

Experts at the World Economic Forum’s new economy-focused talks held in China made it clear that that global cooperation is of critical importance right now.

This makes the recurring warnings about the fracturing of globalisation, the shift towards protectionism and the growing tensions between the West and China all the more alarming.

One of the clearest cautions about the global fracturing during the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2024 panels came from Adam Tooze, a professor at Columbia University and director of the European Institute.

“The central issue for the global economy … is the relationship between China and the West,” he said during a panel discussion. “Globalisation is no longer a Western-centred story.”