In 2016, the presidents of the leading American, British, and Chinese engineering academies issued a joint statement in which they argued that the world had changed—and engineering needed to change with it. They identified several developments driving this change. These included economic globalization, cultural diversification, and global communications. The “global challenges” stood out: these were “significant challenges to the survival and continued development of the world as we know it.”

For example, they argued, our production and consumption systems cannot continue to deplete the Earth's resources “if humanity is to survive.” These systems also produce waste and emissions that cause environmental degradation and climate change. Health systems crack under the burden of global epidemics; overburdened healthcare networks; and the challenge of feeding the rapidly expanding world population. Cities suffer from aging infrastructure, overcrowding, pollution, housing shortages, and unemployment. Making matters even more complex are the systemic, global hazards posed by everything from terrorism to financial instability to cybersecurity threats.

Engineering has solved problems of a similar magnitude in the past, the argument continued. Engineering has managed to help feed and improve the health of more than seven billion people, for example. Now, engineering should tackle our present-day problems and help build a sustainable future: The goal is to work toward a world where humanity and nature live in harmony, with green technology, low-carbon emissions, biological diversity, and ecological balance ….