‘Green’ alert: environmental risks top Davos report

(EurActiv, 15 Jan 2020) For the first time in the 15-year history of the Davos risk report, the top five global risks are all environmental, according to the latest survey published on Wednesday (15 January) ahead of the World Economic Forum next week.

According to the Global Risks Perception Survey, environmental concerns dominate the top long-term risks by likelihood among the 800 members of the World Economic Forum surveyed for the study.

The top risks highlighted are extreme weather events with major damage to property, infrastructure and loss of human life; failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation by governments and businesses; human-made environmental damage and disasters, including environmental crime, such as oil spills, and radioactive contamination; major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse (terrestrial or marine) with irreversible consequences for the environment; and major natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms.

“We do not want to face continued political and economic disintegration, we do not want to reach the tipping point of irreversibility on climate change and we do not want that the next generations to inherit a world which becomes ever more hostile and ever less habitable,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

The report came on the heels of the announcement of the EU’s €1-trillion investment plan intended to make its economy ‘greener’ and carbon neutral by 2050.

“Tackling climate change will be the defining task of this [European] Commission,” the Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said on Tuesday.

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EurActiv, 15 Jan 2020: ‘Green’ alert: environmental risks top Davos report