Dealing with the existential risk posed by the climate crisis will be hampered by the widening gap between rich and poor triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum said.
The body that organizes the annual meeting of the global elite in the Swiss city of Davos said that the warning signs about the threat posed by infectious diseases have been ignored for the past 15 years, with disastrous results.
Despite the loss of almost 2 million lives to Covid-19, the WEF’s global risk report concluded that environmental issues were considered the greatest danger in the coming years, both in terms of impact and probability.
Klaus Schwab, WEF’s executive chairman, said: “In 2020, the risk of a global pandemic became a reality. As governments, companies and societies assess the damage done in the past year, strengthening strategic forecasting is now more important than ever. “
Schwab added: “The growing fragmentation of society – manifested through persistent and emerging risks to human health, rising unemployment, increasing the digital divide and disillusionment of youth – can have serious consequences in an era of economic, environmental, geopolitical risks and technological combined. ”
The WEF report said that the Covid-19 pandemic has widened long-standing digital, economic and health disparities, making it more difficult to secure the international cooperation needed to tackle challenges such as environmental degradation.
Extreme weather events were considered the highest risk measured by the probability of occurring, followed by failure of climate action, human environmental damage, infectious diseases and loss of biodiversity.
The top five risks in terms of impact were infectious diseases, failure in climate action, weapons of mass destruction, loss of biodiversity and natural resource crises.
For the first time, the report assessed risks according to when respondents thought they would pose a critical threat to the world. The short-term dangers – which could happen at any time in the next two years – have revealed concerns about infectious diseases, job crises, digital inequality and youth disillusionment.
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In the medium term – three to five years – respondents believe that the world will be threatened by indirect economic and technological risks, which can take several years to materialize – such as asset bubble burst, IT infrastructure breakdown, inflation and crisis of debt. Long-term concerns – five to 10 years – have been dominated by existential threats, such as weapons of mass destruction, collapse of the state and biodiversity.
WEF said that it is difficult for governments and companies to deal with long-term risks, but the pandemic has shown that ignoring the dangers does not make them less likely to happen.
The global risk survey is normally launched a week before the annual WEF meeting, but the pandemic means that only one virtual event was possible. A physical meeting is planned for Singapore in May.