The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) urged governments Thursday to expand social protection, skills training, and digital and energy access so that artificial intelligence and energy transitions do not widen inequality, according to its World Social Report 2026.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote in the foreword: “The transformations reshaping our world are inevitable. Excluding people from their benefits is not.” In a video message at the launch, he called social inclusion an economic necessity as well as a moral imperative.

The report advances what it calls the New Economics of Social Inclusion (NESI), which treats inclusion as a condition for economic change and not only a result of growth. DESA explains the premise:

NESI argues that social inclusion is not just a dividend of successful transformation but also a condition that helps make it possible. It is therefore both a social objective and an essential driver of economic progress. Economies can only transform successfully when all people can participate productively in economic life, access quality education and health services, obtain finance and access infrastructure, and contribute their skills and ideas.

The report benchmarks 168 countries from 2000 to 2024 and identifies what it calls a “conversion gap,” meaning that countries with similar income and transformation scores often record very different inclusion outcomes. It says income inequality within countries rose in more than 50 countries over that period, including 23 high-income countries. It also cites International Telecommunication Union estimates that 2.2 billion people were offline in 2025, and International Labour Organization (ILO) data showing that 47.6 percent of the global population had no social protection benefit in 2023.

The report identifies women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, and Indigenous Peoples among the groups that continue to face structural disadvantages. It also called for universal connectivity and broad AI literacy.

Data centers are now a major source of new electricity demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that electricity demand from data centers rose 17 percent in 2025, more than five times faster than overall global demand. The IEA projects that data center demand will reach about 945 terawatt hours by 2030, roughly Japan’s entire consumption today. Renewables are meeting much of that growth, but the IEA warns that grids, supply chains and production capacity could slow down new projects.

The social question is who pays for that energy and who benefits from it. The IEA says data centers could push up electricity prices in some markets, which would fall hardest on households with the least money to spare. The World Social Report 2026 argues that the energy shift also needs social protection, skills and support for workers in fossil fuel communities, and that the 2.2 billion people offline in 2025 risk being left out of the gains.

Binding rules remain limited. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) binds only ratifying states, and the UN’s Recommendation No. 202 is non-binding. As a result, how much workers gain will depend on national governments.