20 must-read stories for the weekend

People born today will see an ice-free Arctic. Risks go beyond rising sea levels and extreme weather events to include economic disruption.

Building social capital isn’t the focus of most education systems. What if inclusive growth required it?

Explanations for the biggest fall in trade flows since the financial crisis are many and varied. One thing is clear – there’s more to this than a slowdown in China.

Renewable energy sources are proliferating. The bad news is that renewable isn’t the same as sustainable.

The Sustainable Development Goals to be agreed this month are demanding. Meeting them will require equally ambitious systems of global accountability.

What’s so great about graphene? It’s been dubbed the “wonder material” and with good reason: its unique properties make it an invaluable resource for almost every industry.

The quantum revolution is upon us. Channelling the weirdness that allows an atom to exist in two places at the same time promises huge gains in computing power.

Have you heard of “memristors” or “spintronics”? You will soon – they’re two of the five next trends in electronics.

Snails kill more people than snakes. They may also hold a cure for cancer.

Global leaders meet in China for the Forum’s “Summer Davos”.(China Daily)

China’s yuan devaluation? A necessary economic reform, argues the chair of the Forum’s Global Financial System Initiative. (Caixin)

Voices of youth. 90 young Africans represented their countries at a Forum meeting in Cape Town. One of them shares his experience. (The Nation)

Can the sharing economy cut our carbon footprint? Cites theTravel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. (Huffington Post)

Half companies’ value is intangible, stored on servers, and exposed to hackers. Draws on data from our Risks and Responsibilities in a Hyperconnected World report.(Reuters)

There are three trillion trees in the world. That’s half the peak but seven times as many as previously thought. It means we’ll have to plant even more than planned.

Migrant or refugee? Important distinctions between the two terms are being ignored, to the detriment of both sets of people.

Value chains were once simple, local, and often all under one roof. Now they’ve gone global, and that raises some huge problems for how we think of and measure international trade.

Historical data shows that many nations have seen greater inequality than today. While some head back to pre-industrial peaks, others are steady. Rising inequity may not be inevitable.

IT has failed to boost output per person, giving rise to the “productivity paradox”. Detailed analysis suggests the efficiency gains are there, but they are concentrated in relatively few sectors.

Global trade hasn’t just slowed – it’s contracted. In a post-globalization era, should economic policy-makers rip up the rulebook and start from scratch?

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A man takes photograph of Beijing’s skyline on a clear day from inside the China Central Television (CCTV) Tower, June 11, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee