The year 2040 has just begun and Europe has changed a lot. Everyone knows that the basis for a healthy society is access to electricity in an economic and secure way. Sweden already started in the mid-20th century to re-establish a power system that is economic and reliable. In addition to the six large nuclear power plants that already exist and have had their lifetimes extended, Sweden has four more, each with a capacity of 1,600 MW, and a number of smaller plants that supply major cities with both electricity and district heating. Other countries in Europe have absorbed the same knowledge and the electricity production system has given Europe a competitive edge. The economy is booming and crime has fallen dramatically. In the early 1930s, scientists calculated more seriously how much CO2 was needed to feed the growing population and discovered that the Paris Agreement had to be reworked to increase the proportion of CO2 and captured CO2 had to be used in greenhouses to increase the amount of food produced. Population growth has fortunately slowed to reasonable levels.
China and Russia have now been functioning democracies for a few years and Russia's EU membership is now complete. The US has returned to democratic elections after the Trump era ended with the US on the verge of collapse with its huge debt mountain. North Korea is integrated with South Korea and prosperity is increasing in the region. The remaining global problem is Iran, which holds its population in an iron grip and executes all women not wearing a burka. Africa has a good level of prosperity but is still a long way from a completely happy population. Australia's economy is starting to improve after the difficult years when politicians bet everything on solar and wind power. South America has recovered and countries that were once communist-ruled are now functioning democracies. The Amazon has been restored as the healthy lung of the planet.