Some international action on the climate crisis is a good bet. Maybe a new, more aggressive international agreement that the U.S. doesn't join or doesn't play a big role in writing, or China taking a noticeable lead on technological solutions to the climate crisis/providing those solutions to the Global South/helping climate refugees.
This has a huge chance of being the most likely choice as Chinese influence on ISO standards become more felt. The standard winner will gain a huge monopoly where if you want ‘quality’ you will be forced to buy from a Chinese firm since they created the standard. The Chinese government as well as companies are pushing for this route since they joined and quickly became a permanent member of the ISO who has been ‘advocating’ for Chinese lead standards for a while now especially around subjects like AI which they have a mild lead on and view as a core focus area.
Some international action on the climate crisis is a good bet. Maybe a new, more aggressive international agreement that the U.S. doesn't join or doesn't play a big role in writing, or China taking a noticeable lead on technological solutions to the climate crisis/providing those solutions to the Global South/helping climate refugees.
This has a huge chance of being the most likely choice as Chinese influence on ISO standards become more felt. The standard winner will gain a huge monopoly where if you want ‘quality’ you will be forced to buy from a Chinese firm since they created the standard. The Chinese government as well as companies are pushing for this route since they joined and quickly became a permanent member of the ISO who has been ‘advocating’ for Chinese lead standards for a while now especially around subjects like AI which they have a mild lead on and view as a core focus area.
Standoff over Arctic drilling, perhaps?