The prevailing global risks landscape is one in which progress in human development is being “chipped away at slowly”, leaving businesses, states and individuals vulnerable to new and resurgent risks. This is the key takeaway from the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Report.

Published this morning, the report’s authors warn that cooperation on urgent global issues could be in “increasingly short supply” – demanding a fresh approach to risk assessment and management.

Two-thirds of the subject matter experts involved in putting together the report anticipate a “multipolar or fragmented order” to take shape over the next ten years – leading to a world of new rules and norms.

It’s a predominantly negative outlook from the annual Davos report, both in the short and long term, with concerns over persistent economic woes; AI-driven misinformation and disinformation; and societal polarisation dominating the outlook for 2024.

Environmental risks continue to feature amongst concerns over all timeframes, with extreme weather, critical change to Earth systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, natural resource shortages and pollution five of the top 10 most severe risks flagged for the next decade. Some disagreement over the urgency of these risks emerged this year, however, with private sector contributors to the report less convinced than government and civil society of the immediate risks posed by these threats.

Commenting on the findings, Carolina Klint, chief commercial officer, Europe, Marsh McLennan, said: “Artificial intelligence breakthroughs will radically disrupt the risk outlook for organisations with many struggling to react to threats arising from misinformation, disintermediation and strategic miscalculation. At the same time, companies are having to negotiate supply chains made more complex by geopolitics and climate change and cyber threats from a growing number of malicious actors. It will take a relentless focus to build resilience at organisational, country and international levels – and greater cooperation between the public and private sectors – to navigate this rapidly evolving risk landscape.”



SUGGESTED READING

EDITOR'S COMMENT
By Deborah Ritchie
We are living in a multipolar world of economic interconnection and geopolitical fragmentation – one in which, for the past few years, businesses have faced a high level of crisis complexity, and 2024 looks set to be no different.

---