Enviro issues top economic worry for Davos crowd
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES make up the top five risks to the global economy for the coming decade, organisers of next week’s World Economic Forum, WEF, in the Swiss ski resort of Davos said Wednesday.
Citing a survey of hundreds of key decision-makers, the WEF pointed to potentially catastrophic trends like global warming and the extinction of animal species – underscoring how the environment has surged up the international policy-making agenda ahead of risks like cyberattacks, recession and nuclear proliferation.
The concerns are especially acute, it added, at a time of growing international division, evident in global disputes like the trade war between the United States and China.
“The political landscape is polarised, sea levels are rising, and climate fires are burning,” said Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum.
“This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit, but for tackling our deep-rooted risks.”
Brende said the world has a decade to deal with the climate emergency, and that not doing so within that time frame would be akin to “moving deckchairs on the Titanic”.
The 750 global experts and decision-makers questioned in the Global Risks Report 2020 identified economic disputes as the number-one risk to the global economy this year. For the longerterm outlook, however, environmental concerns accounted for the top five risks.
The findings illustrate how environmental issues have become more important to the public and to policymakers, particularly over the past year, which has seen high-profile campaigning efforts from the likes of Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion group.
The biggest long-term risk cited in the report was the possibility of extreme weather events, such as floods or storms. The others were the failure to properly plan for climate change, man-made environmental disasters such as oil spills, major biodiversity loss, and natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis.
MOUNTING PRESSURE
“There is mounting pressure on companies from investors, regulators, customers, and employees to demonstrate their resilience to rising climate volatility,” said John Drzik, chairman of Marsh & McLennan Insights, which along with Zurich Insurance Group helped the WEF compile the report.
“High-profile events, like recent wildfires in Australia and California, are adding pressure on companies to take action on climate risk at a time when they also face greater geopolitical and cyber-risk challenges.”
Though there’s been a shift towards populist and nationalist politics around the world, Drzik said that those in the “executive suite” are under mounting pressure from customers, employees, investors, rating agencies or regulators to tackle climate issues.
The trend was highlighted this week when BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said his firm, which manages some US$7 trillion for investors, will put climate change and sustainability at the heart of its investing approach.