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World Social Report 2026: UN warns AI and green energy shifts could leave millions behind

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The UN’s World Social Report 2026, released on 15 October 2026, warns that fast changes driven by artificial intelligence, digital technology, renewable energy and ageing populations are reshaping economies and could deepen inequality. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), which wrote the report, says people without the right skills and technology risk being left behind.

World Social Report 2026: A girl in India studies using a tablet connected to the internet (file)
A girl in India studies using a tablet connected to the internet (file) Photo: © UNICEF/Vinay Panjwani via UN News (editorial use with credit).

Who the World Social Report 2026 says is at risk

Women, young people, older people, persons with disabilities, migrants, Indigenous Peoples and low-income communities are the most vulnerable, the report says. It argues that social inclusion is a moral duty and also an economic need. Bringing marginalised groups in enlarges the workforce, strengthens human capital, raises innovation and spreads productivity gains more widely, it found. ‘Inclusive societies are more productive, resilient, and prosperous,’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message for the launch. Xinhua and the UN’s sustainable development press release also reported the findings. The report warns that those left out of key systems now will find it harder to catch up later. According to UN DESA’s release, 58 per cent of workers worldwide were informally employed in 2025, and an estimated 2.2 billion people had no internet access.

Key Facts

  • Report: World Social Report 2026, UN DESA
  • Released: 15 Oct 2026
  • Main risk: AI, digital, green energy and demographic shifts
  • Poorest countries in or near debt distress: nearly half
  • Key asks: reskilling, cheap internet, social protection, beyond-GDP measures

“Transformations are inevitable. Inequality and exclusion are not.”

— Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Reskilling and the digital divide

As AI changes labour markets, the report urges governments to invest in continuous training and reskilling for workers whose jobs may be replaced or changed, rather than focusing only on creating new jobs. The move to renewable energy must include support for workers and communities that depend on fossil fuels, through retraining, other jobs and social assistance. To close the digital divide, governments should widen affordable access to the internet, digital infrastructure and technology training, especially in poorer communities. It also recommends that countries stop relying mainly on GDP and track poverty, education, health care, job security, inequality and the environment. Growth that benefits only a small share of the population cannot be called truly inclusive, the report argues.

Debt limits on social spending

These steps cost money, and many developing countries face tight budgets. Nearly half of the world’s poorest countries are in, or at high risk of, debt distress, with interest payments compared with revenue at their highest in a generation, Guterres warned. He asked leaders to keep the promises made in last year’s Doha Political Declaration on Social Development and the Sevilla Commitment on financing for development. He also called for reform of international financial institutions so they better represent and serve developing countries. ‘Transformations are inevitable. Inequality and exclusion are not,’ he said, as reported by UN News and Xinhua.

Why It Matters: India's large young workforce stands to gain or lose most from how governments handle AI and the shift away from fossil fuels.

Also on TrendDesh: 800 million young people face a future without jobs, UNDP warns as it launches two new initiatives · Multidimensional Poverty Index 2026: poor rise to 1.2 billion, first increase since 2010

Source: UN News · UN press release · Xinhua

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