World Solve

Rapid installation of solar and wind capacity in countries like Vietnam and India frequently faces grid curtailment because high-voltage transmission lines and grid-scale battery storage are insufficiently developed.

While advanced manufacturing is concentrated in East Asia, neighboring developing economies remain trapped in low-margin raw material extraction and low-skilled assembly without technology transfer or capacity building.

A vast majority of ocean plastic originates from major river systems; current cleanup solutions lack capacity to filter heavy river flows during monsoons.

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.

Human trafficking networks exploit gaps between countries' laws and enforcement capacity, moving victims across borders largely undetected. A stronger, coordinated international strategy remains incomplete.

Various criteria like intelligence, capacity to suffer, or self-awareness have been proposed to justify different treatment, but none commands universal agreement. This unresolved question shapes debates over animal rights and factory farming.

Soil erodes far faster than it naturally regenerates in many farming regions, threatening long-term food production capacity. Reversing this imbalance at a global scale remains an unresolved agricultural and environmental challenge.

Construction and demolition debris makes up a significant share of total waste in many rapidly growing cities, and recycling this material at scale remains inconsistently practiced. Reducing this waste stream remains an unresolved urban sustainability issue.

A large share of organic waste still ends up in landfills producing methane simply because industrial composting infrastructure isn't available in enough regions. Building this capacity out at the scale needed remains an unresolved waste management challenge.

Despite decades of research, battery capacity has improved far more slowly than the power demands of our devices. A real breakthrough here would change how we use and design nearly all portable technology.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for industrial-scale lunar propellant and structural material production. 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.

The absence of robust, context-adapted solutions for education approaches that build the capacity for systems thinking and long-term decision making creates cascading risks across interconnected human and natural systems. Key missing elements include durable performance, low lifetime cost, and governance arrangements capable of sustaining impact beyond pilot stages.

Remote forest concessions in Myanmar are difficult to monitor for illegal logging due to limited satellite resolution refresh rates and insufficient ground-truthing capacity by local enforcement.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for antibiotic-free recirculating aquaculture with zero nutrient discharge. 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.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for autonomous systems for monitoring and maintaining critical undersea infrastructure. 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.

Women-led microenterprises in Philippines face disproportionate barriers to opening and maintaining formal savings accounts, limiting their capacity to reinvest and grow their businesses.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for governance frameworks ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of advanced surveillance. 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.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for solutions for providing reliable and affordable internet access in rural and remote regions. 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.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for affordable methods for the early detection and treatment of the major cancers in LMICs. 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.

A persistent gap exists in realizing practical, scalable solutions for architectural innovations that make high-performance buildings affordable for low-income households. 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.