Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
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4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
Headwater forests that regulate regional river flows are cleared for gold and nickel mining, disturbing regional hydrological balances.
mathematics-logic
asia
indonesia
headwater
mining
haven
protected
mountain
eco-zones
illegal
land
clearances
regional
global-unspecified
climate-environment
whether
philosophy-ethics
local-regional
Rising temperatures reduce coffee yields, but international commodity market volatility prevents small farmers from covering rising cultivation costs.
climate-environment
asia
vietnam
coffee
farmers
haven
structured
fair
pricing
mechanisms
smallholder
cocoa
facing
economics-resources
connecting
local-regional
global-unspecified
storage
Workers use bare hands and open nitric acid to extract gold and copper from electronics, inhaling deadly fumes and contaminating urban drainage networks.
climate-environment
asia
pakistan
open
acid
urban
haven
eliminated
hazardous
e-waste
dismantling
baths
informal
society-governance
african
global-unspecified
technical
standards
Lack of employment options leads coastal villagers to use home-made explosives for fishing, destroying coral reefs for short-term yield.
economics-resources
asia
philippines
coastal
fishing
haven
provided
alternative
livelihoods
communities
dependent
destructive
blast
climate-environment
global-unspecified
near
african
lack
Farmers deliver produce to un-refrigerated outdoor wholesale markets where extreme daytime heat spoils crops before sale.
climate-environment
asia
bangladesh
wholesale
markets
produce
haven
built
climate-controlled
public
agricultural
prevent
spoilage
economics-resources
global-unspecified
society-governance
whether
philosophy-ethics
Upstream dam operations retain river water during droughts, starving downstream nations of water needed for agriculture and electricity generation.
local-regional
asia
laos
dam
operations
during
haven
established
legally
binding
regional
agreements
transboundary
water
climate-environment
global-unspecified
whether
urban
Commercial seaweed farming faces high initial equipment costs and fragile processing supply chains, delaying its potential for carbon sequestration.
climate-environment
asia
south-korea
supply-chain
seaweed
haven
scaled
aquaculture
alternative
protein
source
ocean
de-acidification
tool
economics-resources
global-unspecified
supply
systems
As young generations move to cities, historic mountain farming terraces are abandoned, leading to unchecked soil erosion and landslides.
social-civic-problems
asia
philippines
farming
haven
curbed
destruction
ancient
terrace
systems
due
rural-to-urban
youth
climate-environment
migration
global-unspecified
economics-resources
society-governance
Small towns burn household plastic and trash daily, generating toxic dioxin emissions that contaminate nearby air and local farmland.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
haven
eliminated
open-air
garbage
burning
rural
municipalities
lacking
municipal
waste
plastic
local-regional
global-unspecified
cities
growing
Surging demand for traditional air conditioning units in warm Asian nations releases potent HFC greenhouse gases, compounding global warming.
climate-environment
asia
india
air
haven
developed
low-energy
cooling
technologies
capable
replacing
fluorinated
refrigerant
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
health-biology
enabling
Newly planted young mangrove saplings are routinely washed away by increasingly intense storms before establishing deep root structures.
climate-environment
asia
myanmar
mangrove
haven
protected
coastal
restoration
projects
being
destroyed
severe
unseasonal
degraded
global-unspecified
along
restoring
whether
Park rangers cannot patrol vast rainforest expanses on foot; acoustic detection networks for gunshots and chainsaws remain too expensive for wide deployment.
climate-environment
asia
malaysia
acoustic
haven
curbed
illegal
wildlife
poaching
autonomous
real-time
sensors
remote
economics-resources
real
time
systems
warning
Complex, legacy land ownership patterns in urban centers make land assembly prohibitively expensive for municipal social housing development.
local-regional
asia
thailand
land
urban
social
housing
haven
solved
fragmentation
impeding
large-scale
affordable
global-unspecified
society-governance
cities
social-civic-problems
climate-environment
Groundwater extraction in surrounding agricultural zones causes subtle soil sinkage beneath critical transit corridors, requiring constant costly re-leveling.
climate-environment
asia
china
haven
stopped
industrial
land
subsidence
compromising
high-speed
rail
corridor
foundations
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
whether
agricultural
soil
Seasonal mountain landslides routinely break main water pipelines, cutting off municipal drinking water to mountain towns for weeks.
climate-environment
asia
bhutan
water
mountain
drinking
pipelines
haven
built
climate-resilient
landslide-prone
passes
seasonal
global-unspecified
whether
urban
communities
philosophy-ethics
Plastics dumped in upstream countries flow down international rivers, polluting downstream nations that lack diplomatic enforcement mechanisms.
climate-environment
asia
cambodia
down
international
haven
stopped
transboundary
plastic
pollution
floating
shared
river
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
resolved
International carbon credit projects often benefit corporate developers and national governments while indigenous communities protecting the forests receive minimal revenue.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
carbon
credit
indigenous
haven
created
equitable
distribution
frameworks
forest
stewards
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
resolved
Despite recognition of its importance, reliable methods for mechanisms for ensuring that climate and development finance reaches women and marginalized groups are still lacking. Progress is hindered by incomplete mechanistic knowledge, high capital and operational barriers, and the absence of deployment models suited to the contexts of greatest need.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
mechanisms
ensuring
climate
development
finance
reaches
women
marginalized
groups
deployable
methods
systems
society-governance
barriers
designs
A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for technologies for the safe and efficient long-term storage of renewable energy at seasonal scales. Scientific understanding, engineering readiness and institutional capacity remain insufficient to translate promising concepts into durable impact under real-world constraints of cost, skills and governance.
society-governance
europe
france
renewable-energy
scalable
solutions
technologies
safe
efficient
long-term
storage
renewable
energy
seasonal
systems
methods
enabling
climate-environment
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
If a significant cyberattack disabled core government systems, many countries lack a clearly rehearsed plan for maintaining basic governance functions during the recovery period. This leaves a critical vulnerability largely unaddressed until it's actually tested.
society-governance
global-unspecified
governance
systems
lack
plan
cyberattack
clear
govern
aftermath
major
public
technology-computing
whether
during
climate-environment
philosophy-ethics
