During a recent commute to work, as my car inched along in rush-hour traffic, I watched a heron stalk the banks of the Potomac River. The majestic bird was a timely reminder that nature and beauty can be found in the unlikeliest of circumstances. And yet, even for optimists like me, it is getting harder to be hopeful about the fate of our planet.Grim environmental news is nothing new, but 2018 brought a deluge of it.

When it comes to fighting infectious diseases, progress cannot be gauged by the availability of resources; the most important metric is the number of lives saved. By this measure, the world is on the verge of losing its battle with malaria.After years of impressive gains, global efforts to combat the mosquito-borne illness have stalled.

Let us hope that 2019 is the year when the historical tide turns. In 2018, divisions within and between countries continued to deepen. And while geopolitical tensions and political tribalism have transformed international relations and national politics, new technologies are upending long-held assumptions about security, politics, and economics. Complicating matters further is the growing interdependence of our societies.

In November 2017, scientists working in Sumatra, Indonesia, made an exciting announcement: they had discovered a new species of orangutan, bringing to seven the number of great ape species globally.But one year later, the only home of the 800 wild Tapanuli orangutans is being cleared for a US$1.6 billion dam and hydroelectric power plant.

China’s economic performance in 2018 was rather disappointing. According to official statistics, the country’s growth rate up to the end of the third quarter was 6.7 percent, the lowest since the global financial crisis. The real situation was probably even worse.A lack of progress on institutional reform, together with obstacles to structural adjustment, have been fuelling doubt among many foreign and domestic observers about China’s growth prospects.

In 1950, the Canadian-born Princeton University economist Jacob Viner explained a customs union produces a “trade creation” effect, as lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers spur increased flows of goods among member countries. But Viner noted that a customs union also generates a “trade diversion” effect, as countries that are not part of it face reductions in their trade with countries that are.

When resources are limited, it is human capital that defines the sustainable development of a community, especially in the case of costly misallocation and underutilisation, as is often the case in developing countries.

Financial digitalisation – the digital revolution’s system-level transformation of the entire financial ecosystem – could catalyse global efforts to finance sustainable development.

Sadly, 2018 will not be remembered as a year of political and diplomatic success. Though the international order had already begun to erode in 2017, the global political environment became downright chaotic, combustible, and hostile this year.

It has been just five years since China initiated its major land reclamation in the South China Sea, and the country has already shifted the territorial status quo in its favour – without facing any international pushback. The anniversary of the start of its island building underscores the transformed geopolitics in a corridor central to the international maritime order.