Current Affairs 6 January 2025: Global Focus on Climate Pacts, AI Governance, and Economic Risks

On January 6, 2025, the international community grappled with a confluence of pressing issues, from urgent climate action and the governance of emerging technologies to simmering economic risks. Major international bodies released forward-looking reports and initiated new policies, setting the agenda for the year ahead. 

Climate Action: UN Announces 'Geneva Climate Pact'

In response to alarming new data from late 2024 showing an accelerated melt of Arctic sea ice, the United Nations Secretary-General convened an emergency meeting of the Climate Action Council in Geneva. The summit brought together leaders from G20 nations and representatives from the most climate-vulnerable states to address the widening gap between climate promises and reality.

The meeting culminated in the announcement of the 'Geneva Climate Pact,' a new, fast-track initiative with a singular, powerful focus: accelerating the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies within G20 countries. The pact calls for member states to present concrete, year-on-year reduction plans by mid-2025. The Secretary-General called the subsidies "a perverse incentive for planetary destruction" and urged leaders to redirect these funds towards renewable energy infrastructure and support for a just transition for affected workers and communities.

Global Economy: WEF Releases Alarming Global Risks Report

Ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its highly anticipated 2025 Global Risks Report. The report, compiled through surveys of over 1,200 experts from academia, business, and government, painted a sobering picture of the interconnected challenges facing the world.

For the second year in a row, extreme weather events were ranked as the number one global risk in terms of severity over the next decade. However, rising rapidly to the second spot was AI-driven misinformation and the erosion of social cohesion, highlighting deep concerns about the potential for advanced AI to disrupt democratic processes and polarize societies. Other top risks included geoeconomic confrontation (including trade wars and economic nationalism) and the potential for widespread debt crises in developing nations. The report urged global leaders to prioritize resilience and cooperation in the face of these cascading crises.

Technology Governance: EU's AI Act Comes Into Force

January 6 marked a landmark day for technology regulation as the European Union's comprehensive AI Act officially came into force across all 27 member states. This pioneering legislation is the world's first-ever legal framework for artificial intelligence. From this day forward, any company providing AI systems or services within the EU must comply with its strict regulations.

The Act requires companies to classify their AI systems based on four risk levels: unacceptable, high, limited, and minimal. High-risk AI systems, such as those used in critical infrastructure, medical devices, and law enforcement, are now subject to rigorous compliance requirements, including mandatory human oversight, high levels of data governance, and robust post-market monitoring. Tech companies spent the day issuing statements outlining their compliance strategies, with many appointing dedicated AI ethics and compliance officers to navigate the new regulatory landscape.

International Trade: Mercosur Finalizes FTA with Singapore

The South American trade bloc, Mercosur (comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay), announced the successful finalization of a long-negotiated Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore. The deal is being hailed as a strategic "Gateway to Asia" for Mercosur nations. The agreement goes beyond traditional tariff reductions on goods, with a strong focus on modern economic pillars like digital trade, financial services, and intellectual property rights. The FTA is expected to significantly boost South American agricultural exports to the booming Asian market while attracting Singaporean investment into the region's burgeoning tech and infrastructure sectors.

Global Health: WHO Launches Pandemic Preparedness Alliance

Learning critical lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a major new initiative in Geneva: the 'Global Pandemic Preparedness Alliance' (GPPA). This new alliance brings together national governments, major pharmaceutical companies, and leading research institutions under a single collaborative framework. The GPPA's primary mission is to create and fund a standardized platform for the rapid development and, crucially, the equitable global distribution of vaccines and therapeutics during future health crises. The alliance will work to pre-emptively solve issues of supply chain bottlenecks, technology transfer, and funding shortfalls that hampered the response to previous pandemics.