Bibliographic details:
Collins, A. (2018). The global risks report 2018. In World Economic Forum, Geneva.
Abstract:
I this year Global Risks Report a global economic recovery is under way, offering new opportunities for progress that should not be squandered: the urgency of facing up to systemic challenges has, if anything, intensified amid proliferating indications of uncertainty, instability and fragility. We are much less competent when it comes to dealing with complex risks in the interconnected systems that underpin our world, such as organizations, economies, societies and the environment. There are signs of strain in many of these systems: our accelerating pace of change is testing the absorptive capacities of institutions, communities and individuals. When risk cascades through a complex system, the danger is not of incremental damage but of “runaway collapse” or an abrupt transition to a new, suboptimal status quo.
Environmental risks have grown in prominence in recent years. A trend towards nation-state unilateralism may make it more difficult to sustain the long-term, multilateral responses that are required to counter global warming and the degradation of the global environment.
Cybersecurity risks are also growing, both in their prevalence and in their disruptive potential.
The global economy faces a mix of long-standing vulnerabilities and newer threats that have emerged or evolved in the years since the crisis.
The world has moved into a new and unsettling geopolitical phase. Multilateral rules-based approaches have been fraying. Re-establishing the state as the primary locus of power and legitimacy has become an increasingly attractive strategy for many countries, but one that leaves many smaller states squeezed as the geopolitical sands shift.
This year’s Global Risks Report introduces three new series: Future Shocks, Hindsight and Risk Reassessment. Our aim is to broaden the report’s analytical reach: each of these elements provides a new lens through which to view the increasingly complex world of global risks.