Making predictions about how the world could be in the future is an almost universally enjoyed activity, but alongside the fantastical concepts and optimistic projections are more serious plans to engineer the world we live in.

From environmental issues to health concerns, organisations around the world have set targets for 2030 on a host of issues, and if they are reached they could combine to create a world with many differences to the one we live in today.

We look at a selection of the plans to alter the world within 15 years.

An end to poverty

The UN has ambitious aims for 2030. Earlier this month, all member states endorsed an extensive plan to end world poverty, entitled Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Focused on tackling the root causes of poverty, the agenda comprises 17 goals and 169 targets to take on everything from inequality to a lack of jobs. While many will no doubt consider it an impossible target, the UN has been seriously committed to the agenda, working tirelessly for two years to get an agreement, so we could yet see poverty come to an end.

Making smoking illegal

While cannabis is looking increasingly likely to be legalised in a wider range of countries over the next 15 years, tobacco’s death knell is definitely being rung. Systematic campaigns have significantly reduced smoking in many countries over the past few years, but some want to take this further. Researchers have already said that Australia’s exhaustive plans to stamp out smoking could make the practice extinct by 2030, and a campaign, Stamp Out Smoking 2030, wants to make the practice illegal by then. While Big Tobacco is unlikely to be receptive to the idea, countries paying for their citizen’s healthcare could be highly receptive.

Shifting cars to electric

Electric cars are on the up, but there’s still a long way to go before they reach the levels of adoption that environmentalists are hoping for. But lawmakers are starting to step in to engineer this shift. A proposed California bill is looking to half gas use by 2030, taking use in cars back to levels not seen since the 1960s, and more-or-less forcing the use of electric or hybrid vehicles. Maybe by then they’ll actually be cheap enough for regular people to drive.

Rendering malaria extinct

Despite fears that malaria could spread into new countries with the rise of climate change, the World Health Organization plans to almost completely eliminate the disease by 2030. The project will be expensive – an estimated $100m – but it is thought that the long-term costs without action would be far higher.

80% recycling

While some countries have achieved impressive results with their recycling, some, such a the UK, have been pretty poor to follow. But if Zero Waste England has their way, 80% recycling will be mandatory by 2030, and organisations in other countries are likely to call for similar. Whether such a policy is enacted will be dependent on the UK’s politics over the next few years, but it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

No more animal antibiotics

Warnings about the use of animal antibiotics have been growing for some time, as there are fears that antibiotics overuse both directly and in the food we eat could result in bacterial resistance, setting our healthcare back decades. But one solution may be to cut out their use in livestock altogether, and New Zealand is looking to enact this challenging policy by 2030. This would be a massive step for farming, and will certainly be difficult and expensive, but with so much on the line it could be copied elsewhere.

Boosting renewables

Renewable power is gathering momentum, and in some countries forms the majority of the energy supply, but in the US it has been extremely slow to take off. But renewable power is set for a surge in the States thanks to the recently announced Clean Power Plan. Covering a host of new emissions requirements designed to cut air pollution, it includes a target of 30% renewable energy in the land of the free. Some cities will even go further, such as New York, which is targeting 50%.

Fusion comes online

Fusion always seems to be a decade or two away, but China has set out firm plans to make it, at least in part a reality. The country is targeting 2030 to build the first ever hybrid fission-fusion reactor, which would be a massive achievement if they pull it off. Of course, China could be beaten: the US, Japan, Russia and the EU are also looking to make such a reactor, although none have been so bold as to set a target.

More and better public transport

By 2030 public transport will be in higher use and more seamless than today, if some cities get their way. Many cities are targeting higher use of public transportation, such as Penang in Malaysia, which is looking to boost use to 40%, and others are taking serious steps to manage an expected increase in capacity. But other projects are also underway to make riding on public transport a better experience, such as the EU-funded SYNAPTIC project, which is looking at making transport more seamless from end to end.

An end to AIDS

AIDS has wrecked lives across the world, and right now things aren’t exactly looking positive. But if the UN has its way, the deadly syndrome could be consigned to history. Describing the plan as “ambitious, but realistic”, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in July outlined plans to end the epidemic by 2030 through a combination of prevention, treatment and support.

Back to the Moon

All eyes might be on a Mars mission, but for Russia, the target is closer to home. The country plans to put a man on the Moon by 2030, after sending several unmanned missions to the planetary body over the next few years. There have even been suggestions that the country could establish a lunar base.

Holidaying in Vietnam

Many already journey to Vietnam for gap-years and vacations, but if the Vietnamese government has its way, the country’s northern region will be one of the hottest destinations for everything from pilgrimages to relaxing beach stays by 2030. As part of the plan, Vietnam is pumping money into everything from new waterways to new cultural experiences.

Three times the energy storage

By 2030 we’ll need three times the energy storage capacity that currently exists on this planet, according to a roadmap by the International Renewable Energy Agency. This is because of the growing use of renewable energy, which typically functions at certain times of the day, and requires storage for use at other times.

Super-rich UK

The UK could be the richest major economy in the world by 2030, if Chancellor George Osborne has his way. Speaking in January, he said that sticking to his economic plan would make the ambitious plan a reality, moving the country from its current fifth place in the economic top ten. Regular citizens stung by the country’s recent austerity measures have been less than optimistic about the idea.

Drop in births

The world’s population is expected to hit 8.5bn by 2030, and some countries are already looking to take action or risk wildly overstretching their available resources. Egypt is among them, and is aiming to cut the current fertility rate of 3.5 children per woman to just 2.4. With population becoming an increasing concern, we could see this approach spread.