2040 Global Food & Water Security Tabletop Exercise

In July 2026, the Center partnered with Audia, a global plastics leader, to conduct the 2040 Global Food & Water Tabletop Exercise. The exercise examined how severe food and water stress could cascade across interconnected agricultural, environmental, economic, and political systems. Using a backcasting approach, participants navigated regional scenarios to trace second- and third-order consequences—from food insecurity and population displacement to trade disruption and resource competition—and identify critical policy and technology intervention points in the years leading to 2040.