As co-president of the Club of Rome Sandrine Dixson-Declève is singularly well-qualified to speak to the major challenges we confront today and on which, in the search for solutions, we need much stronger levels of international cooperation. Widening income disparities have started to undermine social and political stability, the needs of the extremely poor are not being met, and we are failing to stem the worst consequences of climate change. There is no shortage of solutions, from better use of the tax system to lower income inequality, to the phasing out of wasteful energy and other subsidies, to the use of innovative instruments to finance the transition to a green economy. What is lacking is enlightened leadership, more in tune with the needs of the many, a greater focus on longer-term solutions not driven by short-term profit considerations, and the recognition that the economic and political empowerment of women is vital for the creation of a more secure and stable world.