In memory of our founder
Laszlo Szombatfalvy, our founder
The Global Challenges Foundation was founded in 2012 by Swedish financial analyst and author Laszlo Szombatfalvy (1927-2022). Laszlo Szombatfalvy authored the book The Greatest Challenges of Our Time (first edition published in 2009 by Ekerlids förlag), in which he assesses the greatest threats to humanity, and outlines various opportunities for overcoming them. The Greatest Challenges of Our Time is available in English, Swedish, Mandarin, German, French and Spanish.
Laszlo Szombatfalvy is also the author of Känslor och förnuft – en bok om moraliska beslut (Emotions and Reasoning – a Book on Moral Decisions), published in Swedish by Ekerlids Förlag in 2010.
The book The Greatest Challenges of Our Time
The world has undergone an unparalleled transformation in the past 100 years. The population explosion, the astoundingly rapid developments in science and technology, and the changes in lifestyle in industrialized nations, have all created major problems and imbalances. In this book, Laszlo Szombatfalvy – who became a well-known actor on the Swedish stock market in the 1970s – discusses the lack of risk assessment when it comes to the global problems we are now facing.
The risks we are accepting when it comes to the threats facing us are many times greater than what we would consider acceptable in other areas, such as traffic or aviation. In The Greatest Challenges of Our Time, Laszlo Szombatfalvy identifies, analyses and assesses four mega-threats to humanity – environmental degradation, climate change, political violence and extreme poverty. He also outlines various ways of overcoming those threats or, at least, minimizing the risks.
The Greatest Challenges of Our Time is available in English, Swedish, Chinese, Spanish, German and French. Download the second, revised edition (2010). Printed copies can be ordered from bokus.com.
Press images of Laszlo Szombatfalvy
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In the following interview, our founder Laszlo Szombatfalvy tells about his background and professional career, what led to the formation of the foundation, and discusses his views on the global catastrophic risks threatening humanity.
