A new report released on Wednesday has revealed an increasingly fractured global landscape, where escalating geopolitical, environmental, societal and technological challenges threaten stability and progress.
While economic risks have less immediate prominence in this year’s survey results, they remain a concern, interconnected with societal and geopolitical tensions, the 20th edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report said.
Key risks
State-based armed conflict is identified as the most pressing immediate global risk for 2025, with nearly one-quarter of respondents ranking it as the most severe concern for the year ahead.
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Misinformation and disinformation remain top short-term risks for the second consecutive year, underlining their persistent threat to societal cohesion and governance by eroding trust and exacerbating divisions within and between nations. Other leading short-term risks include extreme weather events, societal polarization, cyber-espionage and warfare.
Environmental risks dominate the longer-term outlook, with extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, critical change to Earth systems and natural resources shortages leading the 10-year risk rankings. The fifth environmental risk in the top 10 is pollution, which is also perceived as a leading risk in the short term. Its sixth-place ranking in the short term reflects a growing recognition of the serious health and ecosystem impacts of a wide range of pollutants across air, water and land. Overall, extreme weather events were identified prominently as immediate, short-term and long-term risks.
The long-term landscape is also clouded by technological risks related to misinformation, disinformation and adverse outcomes of AI technologies.
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“Rising geopolitical tensions, a fracturing of global trust and the climate crisis are straining the global system like never before,” said Mirek Dušek, managing director, World Economic Forum.
“In a world marked by deepening divides and cascading risks, global leaders have a choice: to foster collaboration and resilience, or face compounding instability. The stakes have never been higher,” he said.
Fractured systems, fragile futures
The report, which draws on the views of over 900 global risks experts, policy-makers and industry leaders surveyed in September and October 2024, paints a stark picture of the decade ahead. Respondents are far less optimistic about the outlook for the world over the longer term than the short term. Nearly two-thirds of respondents anticipate a turbulent or stormy global landscape by 2035, driven in particular by intensifying environmental, technological and societal challenges.
Over half of respondents expect some instability within two years, reflecting the widespread fracturing of international cooperation. Long-term projections signal even greater challenges as mechanisms for collaboration are expected to face mounting pressure. Societal risks such as inequality and societal polarization feature prominently in both short- and long-term risk rankings. Rising concerns about illicit economic activity, mounting debt burdens and the concentration of strategic resources highlight vulnerabilities that could destabilize the global economy in the coming years. All these issues risk exacerbating domestic instability and eroding trust in governance, further complicating efforts to address global challenges.
All 33 risks in the ranking increase in severity score over the longer term, reflecting respondents’ concerns about the heightened frequency or intensity of these risks as the next decade unfolds.
“From conflicts to climate change, we are facing interconnected crises that demand coordinated, collective action,” says Mark Elsner, head of the global risks initiative, World Economic Forum. “Renewed efforts to rebuild trust and foster cooperation are urgently needed. The consequences of inaction could be felt for generations to come,” he said.
