Global Risks Report, 2021

January 22, 2021

The World Economic Forum recently released the sixteenth edition of the Global Risks Report, 2021. The report was released based on the Global Risks Perception Survey undertaken by more than 650 members of World Economic Forum.

Key Findings of the report

According to the report, the following will be the short-term (0 to 2 years) risks:

- Infectious diseases
- Extreme Weather Events
- Livelihood Diseases

The medium term (3 to 5 years) risks are:

- - IT Infrastructure Breakdown
  - Asset Bubble Burst
  - Price Instability

The long term (5 to 10 years) risks are:

- State Collapse
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Biodiversity losses

Top Risks identified by the report

The top three risks by likelihood that are to happen in the next ten years are climate action failure, extreme weather and human environmental damage. The top three risks by impact are climate action failures, infectious diseases and weapons of mass destruction. In 2020, the Global Risks report ranked infectious diseases on tenth position in the list of most critical threats. Though the carbon emissions have declined due to COVID-19 related lock down, they are expected to increase when the economic recovery begins.

About the Report

The report was released before the upcoming Davos Agenda Summit of World Economic Forum. This year, in 2021, the World Economic Forum is to launch the Great Reset Initiative alongside Davos Agenda Summit. The main aim of the report is to prepare the Government and other international communities during the times of crisis.

Suggestions

The report makes the following suggestions to the global communities to draw lessons from the responses to COVID-19:

To formulate analytical frameworks
To build trust through clear and consistent communication
To create new forms of partnerships

World Economic Forum

Earlier in October 2020, the World Economic Forum released The Future of Jobs Report, 2020. According to the report, the COVID-19 will disrupt more than eighty-five million jobs by 2025.