Humans now live in an era when challenges keep arising and risks increase with each passing day. A new range of global problems have greatly influenced the development and sustainability of human society. Global governance is the solution to these problems, yet its efficacy is related to a number of factors, motive being the key. Since feeble global governance causes a “governance deficit,” human society should find ways to strengthen motives for global governance. Such motives are closely related to the following factors.

Problems faced

In theory, human society has the ability to cope with global problems, otherwise it would head for impending doom. However, some global problems are quite difficult to resolve, and would take several attempts to address completely. For example, pandemic diseases have appeared one after another on a large scale in human history. Each time a pandemic struck, the prevention and control as well as the research and volume production of vaccines all faced a series of difficulties.

As early as 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the world’s first evaluation report concerning climate change. More than 30 years have passed since then, but the harmful acceleration of climate change has remained ineffectively contained. Other global problems such as cyberspace security, terrorism, the deterioration of the ecological environment, and famine, have drawn attention from the international community for several decades. However, till today, we still have not seen “the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Though the path towards global problem solving is not easy, we are glad to see that global society’s resolution to respond to these problems is powerful.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a few countries irresponsibly opted to minimize their global responsibilities, which “politicalized” pandemic prevention and control. Anti-science movements began to take an upper hand, with mortality growing day by day. Fortunately, most countries have taken active measures in responding to the pandemic and expressed their willingness to support the World Health Organization. In some sense, this is a good example of converting a shared resolution to fight the pandemic into a powerful motive for global governance.

To advance global governance in a persistent way and maximize its efficacy, an international leader that has a good reputation and is competent in dealing with different agendas and coordinating positions from different sides is needed.

As the most prestigious and representative intergovernmental international organization, the UN fully deserves its leading role in global governance. In “Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance”, it is written that the commission does not subscribe to the notion that the UN should be dismantled to make way for new global governance architecture.

But the UN is not a “global government” that can give orders or dictate its terms to individual countries. In this sense, today’s world is still in a state of anarchy. This conundrum may be difficult to overcome in the foreseeable future.

The G20 played an important role in tackling the global financial crisis which broke out in 2008 and in helping the post-crisis global economy to recover. But this organization is also unable to regulate or restrain other countries. Each time the G20 conference passed guidelines or released documents, they only expressed member’s opinions on major international issues. Without the power to regulate, the organization cannot lead global governance.

China’s contribution

Some Chinese scholars hope that China can play a leading role in global governance, and there are also calls from international voices who ask for China and other emerging economies to shoulder more responsibility in advancing the course of global governance.

It is well known that global governance includes governance of the global economy, trade, finance, health, climate, the internet, digital spaces, security, the environment, poverty alleviation, the maritime sector, human rights and culture. Up to now, China has played an influential role in global poverty governance, health governance, and climate governance with considerable results yielded. After all, China is a developing country. To do its “homework” well is more important than shouldering a leading role in global governance.

Certainly, China has always actively participated in global governance and is willing to continue participating. China has been committed to the principle of achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration and advocated for the democratization of international relations.

China’s leaders have reiterated the Chinese view of global governance in different situations both within China and internationally. Undoubtedly, if countries around the globe focus their efforts on partnership building, security patterns, economic development, cultural exchange, and ecological construction, global governance’s momentum will be inexhaustible.

Jiang Shixue is a distinguished professor from the Shanghai University.