World Economic Forum survey
Rising living costs and climate change: these are the greatest global threats of the coming years
The consequences of climate change have long been noticeable – as here in Brazil
©Orlando Junior/DPA
The World Economic Forum surveyed more than 1,200 experts for its annual report on global risks. Their frightening answer: the world is facing a “unique, uncertain and turbulent decade”.
According to a survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the world has not experienced so many global risks for decades. In its report on global risks 2023 on Wednesday, the WEF named inflation and the cost of living, trade wars, social unrest, geoeconomic confrontations and the risk of nuclear war, among other things. Add to that low economic growth, indebtedness, a move away from globalization, the virtually limitless development of potentially dangerous technologies, and the consequences of climate change.
Rising cost of living as the biggest risk over the next two years
As every year, the WEF asked more than 1,200 experts and leaders from politics and business to rank what they considered to be the greatest risks. Many of them will take part in the traditional annual meeting of the WEF in Davos from January 16th. According to its statutes, the WEF, based in Cologny near Geneva, wants to “improve the state of the world”.
Over the next two years, respondents see rising cost of living as the most pressing concern, followed by extreme weather events, wars and conflicts, failure to mitigate climate change, and the division of society. In the long term, over ten years, the lack of climate protection and adaptation measures, storm disasters and the collapse of ecosystems are in the top four places. This is followed by the risk of involuntary migration. The risk of terrorist attacks is in 32nd place. Respondents consider the risk of cyber attacks to be high in both the short and long term (8th place).
2022
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“Uncertain and Turbulent Decade”
“Together, (these risks) make for a unique, uncertain and turbulent decade,” the report said. Advances in the application of artificial intelligence and high-performance computers (quantum computing) could help to reduce some risks, for example in the health sector. But for many developments there is no legal framework for the application. They could themselves become risks, for example in military operations.
The report doesn’t mention this, but an example would be so-called killer robots: machines that, once programmed with artificial intelligence, select and shoot at war targets without human intervention. For years, countries like the US, Russia and others working on such developments have prevented international guidelines from using such technologies.