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.
Publicly citable
Every problem has a stable citation code for reference and discussion.
Filtered by relevance
Search by category, geography, status, and keywords.
Builder-oriented
Use the repository to find startup ideas, policy leads, and research agendas.
4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
10Humans
Excessive synthetic fertilizer use in intensive farming regions washes into rivers and estuaries, creating massive oxygen-depleted dead zones where aquatic life cannot survive.
climate-environment
asia
china
massive
zones
haven
controlled
agricultural
runoff
causing
marine
hypoxia
coastal
global-unspecified
prevent
way
whether
philosophy-ethics
Protected natural areas lack consistent funding for park rangers, anti-poaching technology, and community co-management, leaving critical biodiversity hot-spots vulnerable to illegal logging and agricultural encroachment.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
biodiversity
haven
structured
sustainable
financing
mechanisms
long-term
preservation
asean
heritage
global-unspecified
hotspots
term
long
philosophy-ethics
In vulnerable regions of South and Southeast Asia, administrative delays in distributing emergency relief after sudden floods or cyclones push near-poor households back into extreme poverty before government assistance arrives.
climate-environment
asia
bangladesh
haven
integrated
shock-responsive
social
protection
systems
capable
automatically
disbursing
aid
society-governance
climate
global-unspecified
real
time
Standard staples like wheat and rice suffer severe yield drop-offs during extreme spring heat spikes across Northern India and Pakistan, threatening national staple supply reserves.
climate-environment
asia
india
haven
commercialized
heat-tolerant
crop
cultivars
capable
enduring
prolonged
heatwaves
south
protected
wildlife
global-unspecified
heat
reserves
Traditional drought-resistant seed varieties are disappearing as farmers adopt commercial hybrid seeds, eroding genetic resilience against long-term climate shocks.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
biodiversity
against
commercial
seed
haven
successfully
preserved
native
crop
monoculture
climate
varieties
income
products
shocks
Opaque national food storage figures cause neighboring Asian countries to impose immediate export bans during minor crop declines, artificially spiking global food prices.
climate-environment
asia
thailand
regional
export
bans
during
haven
built
real-time
grain
reserve
tracking
global-unspecified
food
prevent
whether
local-regional
Lead, cadmium, and mercury leach into surrounding farmland soils, contaminating staples like leafy vegetables and tubers consumed by local communities.
climate-environment
asia
china
haven
eliminated
dangerous
heavy
metal
uptake
food
crops
grown
near
waste
recovery
local
economics-resources
coastal
Vocational institutes in developing Asian economies continue to train youth for declining fossil-fuel industries rather than solar installation, EV maintenance, and sustainable forestry.
climate-environment
asia
pakistan
vocational
industries
haven
created
accredited
technical
education
pathways
aligned
green
society-governance
economics-resources
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
training
Schools in high-risk disaster zones teach abstract science without practical climate resilience, disaster survival, and local ecosystem stewardship modules.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
climate-change
climate
haven
integrated
comprehensive
change
adaptation
curricula
primary
public
school
society-governance
systems
under
methods
High electricity costs lead small-scale leather and textile processors to bypass treatment systems, dumping heavy metals directly into river basins.
climate-environment
asia
pakistan
treatment
systems
haven
developed
energy-efficient
industrial
wastewater
small
medium-scale
dyeing
society-governance
technology-computing
global-unspecified
mathematics-logic
philosophy-ethics
Rapid un-sewered urban expansion relies on pit latrines and unlined septic systems, which seep pathogens directly into the urban water table.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
urban
unlined
septic
haven
halted
fecal
sludge
contamination
shallow
aquifers
systems
global-unspecified
african
water
cities
Rising sea levels submerge shallow freshwater lenses beneath coral atolls, forcing island communities to rely entirely on variable rainwater harvesting.
climate-environment
asia
maldives
freshwater
coral
haven
secured
long-term
availability
low-lying
atoll
nations
facing
protecting
aquifers
saltwater
intrusion
bleaching
Standard lithium-ion battery arrays suffer accelerated degradation in tropical ambient temperatures, making grid-scale battery storage prohibitively expensive.
climate-environment
asia
india
storage
tropical
haven
scaled
long-duration
energy
ldes
technologies
optimized
high-temperature
global-unspecified
solar
whether
long
society-governance
Inland freshwater fishermen lose significant portions of their daily catch due to lack of localized ice plants and affordable off-grid refrigeration.
climate-environment
asia
laos
affordable
inland
haven
developed
solar-powered
cold
storage
solutions
smallholder
fisheries
scalable
global-unspecified
whether
society-governance
philosophy-ethics
Major commercial shipping ports across Southeast Asia lack elevated breakwaters and storm protection, risking catastrophic supply chain disruptions.
climate-environment
asia
vietnam
supply-chain
storm
haven
built
climate-hardened
port
infrastructure
resilient
1-in-100-year
surge
projections
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
economics-resources
Conventional Portland cement production accounts for major industrial carbon emissions in Asia; green cement alternatives lack standardized building code certifications.
climate-environment
asia
china
carbon-emissions
cement
alternatives
haven
created
low-carbon
scalable
massive
infrastructure
expansion
conventional
affordable
carbon
global-unspecified
reducing
Municipal transport authorities lack upfront capital to purchase electric buses and build high-voltage charging depots, prolonging diesel air pollution.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
air-pollution
electric
haven
transition-funded
fossil
fuel
bus
fleets
zero-emission
transit
networks
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
The rapid adoption of electric rickshaws and scooters creates a massive wave of end-of-life batteries that are dumped in open landfills due to lack of local recycling facilities.
climate-environment
asia
india
recycling
batteries
electric
haven
built
scalable
infrastructure
spent
lithium-ion
two
global-unspecified
waste
systems
management
solved
Informal foundries produce cheap cooking pots from scrap aluminum contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic, which leach into daily meals.
climate-environment
asia
afghanistan
haven
regulated
hazardous
heavy
metals
domestic
food
preparation
cookware
informal
eliminated
urban
economics-resources
groundwater
waste
Anerobic decomposition in flooded rice paddies is a massive source of global methane, but farmers lack incentives and technical training to adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) techniques.
climate-environment
asia
vietnam
methane
rice
haven
quantified
emissions
leaking
expanding
paddy
cultivations
under
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
technologies
continuous