This is a report published by the World Economic Forum (WOF), January 2025.
The multi-decade structural forces highlighted in last year’s WFO Global Risks Report – technological acceleration, geostrategic shifts, climate change and demographic bifurcation – and the interactions they have with each other have continued their march onwards. The ensuing risks are becoming more complex and urgent, and accentuating a paradigm shift in the world order characterized by greater instability, polarizing narratives, eroding trust and insecurity. Moreover, this is occurring against a background where today’s governance frameworks seem ill-equipped for addressing both known and emergent global risks or countering the fragility that those risks generate.
Environmental risks have steadily consolidated their position as the greatest source of long-term concern. In fact, nearly all environmental risks are included in the top 10 risks. Extreme weather events are anticipated to become even more severe and biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is an area of mounting concern. Pressing concerns over critical change to Earth systems, Natural resource shortages and Pollution complete the very bleak outlook for environmental risks and climate security. This year’s Global Risks Perception Survey also shows that a sense of alarm is also mounting in the shorter term: Environmental problems, from extreme weather to pollution, are here now and the need to implement solutions is urgent.
Other risks explored in this report are concerns about state-based armed conflict and geoeconomic confrontation which have remained relatively high over the last 20 years. Today, geopolitical risk – and specifically the perception that conflicts could worsen or spread – tops the list of immediate-term concerns. Societal risks such as inequality rank high among today’s leading concerns as well as over the last years. Polarization within societies is further hardening views and affecting policymaking. It also continues to fan the flames of misinformation and disinformation, which, for the second year running. More broadly, technological risks, while not seen as immediate, rise in the rankings for the 10-year time horizon, given the rapid pace of change in areas such as AI and biotech.
These are extracts from a report published by the World Economic Forum (WOF), January 2025. To read the full report complete with tables and figures, follow the link here.