The World Economic Forum released its annual Global Risk Report on January 11. The report tracks global risk perceptions among nearly a thousand risk experts and world leaders in business, government, and civil society.
It examines risks across five categories: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological.
The report reveals that environmental risks are perceived to be the five most critical long-term threats facing humanity and that climate action failure, extreme weather and biodiversity loss rank as the top three most severe risks in the long term.
Marco Lambertini, Director General of the World Wildlife Fund International commenting on the report said that “the latest Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum reveals that businesses and policymakers are finally waking up to the very real risks posed by both climate change and biodiversity loss.
This is the result of a new “eco-awakening".
Read the latest Simply Green digital magazine below
And it is why news headlines and social media are routinely dominated by stories about wildfires, droughts, extreme weather, scarcity of resources, loss of wildlife and of course, the ongoing global pandemic.”
“As the world’s leaders gear up for this year’s biodiversity talks in China, it is critical that they act on society’s concerns and finally connect the dots between climate change, the destruction of nature and our current production and consumption model.
“They must also move from responding to pandemics to preventing them by adopting a One Health approach that recognises that the health of people is closely tied to the health of animals and the natural environment.”
“We are finally beginning to understand that only by securing a stable climate and healthy natural world will we be able to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable future for humanity. Now it’s time to commit and to act.”
Climate risks are identified as top risks in both the short- and long term. In May 2021, WWF commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to conduct research on the public perception of nature loss.
The research ‘An Eco-wakening: Measuring Global Awareness, Engagement and Action For Nature’ highlights that public concern for nature loss is mounting, growing by 16% globally in the last 5 years.