You only have to take a quick glance at the news to see that things are incredibly difficult out there right now. It does not matter whether you are the CEO of a large business, the manager of a team at a non-profit, or someone trying to make ends meet while hunting for a new job. The issues that the United Kingdom, and indeed the world at large, are facing right now are enormous, and they are not going to go away any time soon.

When faced with this never-ending barrage of bad news about the market, the climate and beyond, it can be very easy to feel swamped. What are you supposed to do when every positive step forward seems to be met with a push back from forces that are beyond your control? The most important thing that anyone who is looking to make positive changes can do is to think about how you can better educate yourself about these challenges, and to understand how they will affect you, the people you do business with, and what you can do about them. Here are some of the biggest issues that are facing UK businesses and non-profits right now.

The Rising Cost Of Living

If you asked anyone in the United Kingdom what they are most worried about now, the chances are good that they would tell you that they are extremely stressed by the rising cost of living. The soaring prices of energy have been a hot button talking point for the last several months, in spite of the government’s attempts to introduce measures that will make things a little easier for people. But it’s not just about energy bills. We are seeing prices going up everywhere you look. Food is costing more at the supermarket, petrol is costing more at the pump, and even our taxes are going up too. That means that the average UK customer has a lot less money to throw around, which means that businesses are going to have to work even harder to stand out.

Public Policy Failures

The last couple of years have been chaotic for a number of reasons, but something that has definitely not helped matters has been confusion over public policy from the government and institutions. If you work for or manage a non-profit, then you will absolutely be familiar with this issue. One of the main things standing in the way of effective public policy is confusion over or a lack of understanding of the main factors that go into it. If you are heading into a job that will require you to influence the design of public policy, or if you want to get to grips with how public policy fits into your role, then you should consider enrolling on a public policy analysis course. This will give you a much better understanding of how to create public policies that actually work and the processes that go into them, as well as receiving a public policy analysis certificate.

Climate Change Action Is Required

It is quite remarkable that, given everything that was going on in the world during 2020 and 2021, climate change made the headlines quite as much as it did. Clearly, the reason for this is that the extreme weather events and soaring temperatures that we saw, and continue to see, are a sign that drastic action is required right now. Governments around the world are continuing to make promises, even though it is clear that some of those promises may not be met. But a great deal of the burden of tackling this issue is going to fall on businesses and non-profits. Business owners need to look hard at how they can reduce their carbon footprints. Things like changing the materials you use, working with sustainable businesses, and working with charities will make a difference. For non-profits, it is so important that they keep finding ways to keep this issue in the public eye. They need to find a way to keep the pressure up on the governments and businesses that are still finding ways to excuse or mask their poor efforts on climate change.

Brexit Is Still Here

With the recent rise in inflation, the United Kingdom is having to face some hard truths when it comes to Brexit. The first, of course, is that the impact of leaving the European Union is going to continue to be felt for years to come. This is not something that is going to be resolved quickly, as the ripple effects are still being felt (most clearly in Northern Ireland). But it is also the fact that the rise in inflation is not just a result of the pandemic, it is in large part due to Brexit. For businesses and non-profits, Brexit is something that they will have to continue to negotiate.