8
THE YEAR AHEAD: 2022 ✦ The dominant three "C's" that affect the world: COVID-19, China and Climate Change. A perspective from Brilliant-Online.
➸
3 C's that affect the world: COVID-19, China & Climate Change
I
t is fair to say that many of us will be glad to see the back of 2021. It was a strange, turbulent year where our understanding of how society is structured and how we fit into it individually and collectively was turned upside down. We now operate in a redefined landscape, with many facets of our daily lives still clouded with uncertainty and indecision. As 2021 enters the rear mirror, what will 2022 have in store? Here we take a look at some of the major issues that we believe will shape headlines in the year ahead. We may as well start with the one major elephant in the room that we cannot see changing in 2022: COVID-19. As the virus enters its third year since emerging in China in 2019, it will unfortunately continue to be the central theme dominating the news and our daily lives in the 12 months ahead. The recent Omicron strain has rattled many countries to their core and seen a series of border lockdowns and flight restrictions enforced as a result.
We still do not know for sure how serious Omicron could be but early suggestions that prior vaccinations will be rendered useless as a defence against it certainly don’t bode well. However, expect enhanced vaccination doses and additional treatments such as antiviral pills and improved antibody treatments to become more widely available in the ongoing fight. Meantime, travel and tourism will continue to be affected by the pandemic although hopefully not to the same extreme levels that have estimated losses of US$4 trillion in global export revenues in the last two years. Experts do not expect a return to pre-COVID-19 tourism levels until 2023 or later, however. The workplace dynamic has changed immeasurably and we expect remote and working from home options continuing to be the norm. This works for some but doesn’t for others and suggestions that companies will adopt a hybrid of both could gain popularity as the year advances.
