Welcome to the age of the polycrisis: the Global Risks Report 2023

Radio Davos

The cost of living crisis around the world is the number one risk in the short-term, according to the latest Global Risks Report, but climate change remains the greatest challenge in the medium and long term. In this episode we hear from two of the people involved in creating the Global Risks Report - required reading ahead of the Annual Meeting in Davos - Carolina Klint, managing director at Marsh, and Peter Giger, Group Chief Risk Officer at Zurich Insurance Group.

'As 2023 begins, the world is facing a set of risks that feel both wholly new and eerily familiar.'

So reads the executive summary of the Global Risks Report 2023, the result of a major annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Marsh McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group.

'We've seen a return of older risks inflation, cost of living crises, trade wars, capital outflows from emerging markets, widespread social unrest, geopolitical confrontation, and the spectre of nuclear warfare which few of this generation's business leaders or public policymakers have experienced.'

The Global Risks Report is a fascinating read. It looks at short-term and long-term perceptions. And in the longer term, or the medium term, the threat posed by climate change is the top risk on a ten-year time horizon. But in the short term, worries about natural disasters and extreme weather fall to second place, pushed off the top spot by the cost of living crisis.

You can find the report at wef.ch/grr2023. It's required reading ahead of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos where figures from government, business, academia and civil society will come together to discuss the world's most pressing issues.

Report Link: https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/

Executive Summary: https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/digest

Press Conference livestream and replay link: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/global-risks-report-2023-press-conference/

Follow all the action from the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023 at wef.ch/wef23 and across social media using the hashtag #WEF23.

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