The Global Risks Report 2019

Report published on the World Economic Forum website on 01/15/2019

The Global Risks Report 2019 is published against a backdrop of worrying geopolitical and geo-economic tensions. If unresolved, these tensions will hinder the world’s ability to deal with a growing range of collective challenges, from the mounting evidence of environmental degradation to the increasing disruptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The report presents the results of our latest Global Risks Perception Survey, in which nearly 1,000 decision-makers from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society assess the risks facing the world. Nine out of 10 respondents expect worsening economic and political confrontations between major powers this year. Over a ten-year horizon, extreme weather and climate-change policy failures are seen as the gravest threats.

This year’s report includes another series of “what-if” Future Shocks that examine quantum computing, weather manipulation, monetary populism, emotionally responsive artificial intelligence and other potential risks. The theme of emotions is also addressed in a chapter on the human causes and effects of global risks; the chapter calls for greater action around rising levels of psychological strain across the world.

→ Read the Report


Related Articles

Three years since their genocide began, the Rohingya remain desperate for help

30/08/2020. There are now about 1 million people living in five refugee camps of bamboo and plastic shelters over an area equivalent to about a third of Manhattan.

War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable

09/01/2016. Thinking Through the Unthinkable

Council of Despair? The Fragmentation of UN Diplomacy

04/30/2019. To overcome dysfunction and retain credibility, the council’s members should prioritise the few cases where international cooperation is still possible.