Only 1 in 10 World Economic Forum members expect global recovery

Just one in ten World Economic Forum members polled expect the global recovery to accelerate over the next three years, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 business, government and academic leaders, with just one in six optimistic about the world’s outlook.

Climate change was seen as the number one danger by respondents in the Forum’s annual risk report released on Tuesday, while erosion of social cohesion, livelihood crises and deteriorating mental health were identified as the risks that have increased the most since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Global leaders must come together and take a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to address relentless global challenges and build resilience before the next crisis,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the Forum.

Extreme weather was considered the biggest risk to the world in the short term, and in the medium and long term — two to ten years, the main threat is a failure of climate action, the research showed.

“Failure to act on climate change could reduce global GDP by one-sixth and the commitments made at COP26 are still not enough to reach the target of (limiting global warming to) 1.5 (degrees Celsius),” said Peter Giger, head of risk group at Zurich Insurance, who helped compile the report.

The Forum’s report also highlighted four areas of emerging risk — cybersecurity, disorderly climate transition, migratory pressures and competition in space.

This survey is published each year before the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. However, the Geneva-based body last month postponed the event from January until mid-2022, due to the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The report was produced in conjunction with South Korea’s Zurich, Marsh McLennan and SK Group, as well as the universities of Oxford and Pennsylvania and the National University of Singapore.