The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently conducted a survey to identify and assess the likelihood of certain global risks, and found that many of the report’s participants identified both environmental and social threats as the most likely risks of them all.
The survey features perspectives from almost 750 experts. Participants studied the “perceived impact and likelihood of 30 prevalent global risks as well as 13 underlying trends that could amplify them or alter the interconnections between them over a 10-year timeframe,” the WEF said in a statement.
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In particular, the top five risks determined to be the most likely by the survey (from most to least likely) for 2017 are:
- Extreme weather (Environmental)
- Involuntary migration (Societal)
- Major natural catastrophe (Environmental)
- Large terrorist attacks (Geopolitical)
- Massive data fraud/theft (Technological)
For last year, the top five risks were:
- Involuntary migration (Societal)
- Extreme weather (Environmental)
- Failed climate change mitigation (Environmental)
- Interstate conflict (Geopolitical)
- Major natural catastrophe (Environmental)
“2016 saw a crystallization of political risks that have led to the election of populist leaders, a loss of faith in institutions and increased strain on international cooperation,” the WEF explained. “We should not be surprised by this: for the past decade, the Global Risks Report has been drawing attention to persistent economic, social and political factors that have been shaping our risks landscape.”
Severe weather and the natural disasters that resulted from them proved to be destructive and costly to world economies last year. Hurricane Matthew and Typhoon Meranti in 2016 caused hundreds or deaths and billions of dollars in damage, respectively. Domestically, the direct and indirect costs of the Fort McMurray wildfire were assessed to be around $9.5 billion.
Bloomberg believes that “involuntary migration” was the second largest risk identified since it is “a reflection of the large volumes of immigrants and refugees fleeing war-torn Syria into neighboring nations in the Middle East, as well as Europe.”
The recent terror attacks in Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, Nice, and Orlando probably played a strong part in determining the threat of further extremist activities, hence terrorism’s placement on the list.
Bloomberg finds the identification of the risk posed by data fraud and theft timely, particularly in light of the hacking allegations laid against Russia and other alleged cyber invaders.
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