What are the top five global risks and how to mitigate them

With 3.6 billion people, or around 45 percent of the world’s population, being highly vulnerable to climate impacts, the time is quickly running out to make long-lasting changes that can prevent the world from warming up too much by the end of the century. Increased frequency of natural disasters, scarcity of food and water, and reduction in the amount of habitable area are just some of the issues that climate catastrophe could cause.

Even as solutions are being worked upon to tackle the issues, more needs to be done at an international, economic and social level to stem the emission of greenhouse gases. These measures include providing the necessary capital to transition for low-income countries, investing more resources in sustainable energy resources, fast-tracking approvals and more.

“Solutions need to be underpinned by public-private collaboration and policy to achieve scale,” says Antonia Gawel, Head of Climate Change; Deputy Head, Centre for Nature & Climate, WEF.

Closely related to the climate and cost-of-living crisis is the world’s failure to quickly, safely and timely transition to cleaner sources of renewable energy. While the hovering spectre of the climate crisis spurred some into action in recent years, the increasing cost of living may threaten to undo much of what has been achieved.

Transitioning to a new energy system that offers sustainability, security and affordability is a complex task that will require systemic challenges at every level. Changing grids, increasing output, and researching more reliable ways of generation and storage are some of the challenges. But these issues need to be addressed quickly in order to achieve net-zero emissions.

“The clock is ticking and major changes are required immediately. Investment, transition and deployment on a large scale must take place by 2030 in a manner perhaps unparalleled by any other global transformation,” said Roberto Bocca, Member of the Executive Committee - Head of Energy, Materials and Infrastructure, WEF.

“While evidence from recent months is mixed, the crisis has been a wake-up call on the urgency of reforming the energy system, and not only for sustainability reasons,” he said.

The past two years have shown how lax cybersecurity can bring down critical national infrastructure at the press of a button. Cybersecurity attacks on hospitals, like the recent one on AIIMS Delhi, energy infrastructure, companies, and governments are a cause for concern.

Businesses and organisations need to proactively take measures to protect themselves against cyberattacks and be prepared for eventualities. “While progress has been made in bolstering cybersecurity awareness and preparation, there is more that businesses can do to increase resiliency, including improving cyber literacy, communication and information sharing,” explained Akshay Joshi, Head of Industry and Partnerships, Centre for Cybersecurity, WEF.

Energy shortage, fertiliser shortage, labour shortage and vulnerable food logistics have led to more hungry people across the world over the past year. Here also it can be seen how multiple crises interact with each other. As climate change invariably causes more unpredictable weather and hotter temperatures, food-growing regions across the world will see a drop in yield and productivity. This will mean even more hungry people in the coming years.

Geopolitical risks like the Russian invasion of Ukraine also highlight how fragile supply chains can exacerbate food crises across the world. Investing in country-led food systems transformation and transitioning to net-zero and nature-positive food are two ways that countries can deal with this growing problem, explains Tania Strauss, Head of Strategy and Global Projects, Food Systems Initiative, WEF. “We must face this crisis with the certainty of multiple food crises to follow… Success now rests on every country taking action,” she adds.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how poorly equipped the global health systems are to handle a crisis of such proportions. Lack of infrastructure, investment, low number of professionals equipped to handle crises of such proportions have impacted healthcare systems across the world.

Therefore, it is important for countries to prioritise and heavily invest in revamping their healthcare systems in a timely fashion.

“Stakeholders globally must continue to prioritise health by ensuring equitable access to care as a core part of any national agenda, and focusing on the health of the planet to shore up against and avert future health risks,” said Kelly McCain, Head, Healthcare Initiatives Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare, WEF.