The Global Risks Report 2024

Looking ahead 1.6 These results point to a global risks landscape where economic, geopolitical and societal vulnerabilities will continue to build. Worrying developments emerging today have the potential to become chronic global risks over the next decade. As constant upheaval becomes the norm, decades of investment in human development – and human resilience – are slowly being chipped away, potentially leaving even comparatively strong states and individuals vulnerable to rapid shocks from novel and resurgent sources. The impacts of extreme weather may deplete available economic resources to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Increasing vulnerabilities, brought about by resource stress, conflict and increasing polarization, could expose societies and whole economies to crime and corruption. Exponential technology growth may leave the next generation without a clear path to improve human potential, security and wellbeing. How these global risks evolve will reflect the global conditions that are slowly taking shape across multiple spheres: geostrategic, environmental, demographic and technological. Chapter 2 discusses a world that is being stretched beyond its limit, highlighting a series of emergent risks that are arising in the context of these structural regime shifts. A multiplicity of futures are conceivable over the next decade. While the next chapter explores the most concerning potential outcomes, Chapter 3 explores how a more positive path can be shaped through acting today. Ali Arif Soydaş, Unsplash Global Risks Report 2024 32