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The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Risks Report 2025 highlights conflict, climate change, and disinformation as the top threats facing the world. The report published Wednesday calls for urgent, collaborative action to mitigate these threats and build a more resilient future.
While economic risks have subsided, those linked to social and geopolitical tensions remain a critical concern. Armed conflict between nations is identified as the most pressing risk for 2025, with nearly a quarter of respondents viewing it as their greatest worry.
Misinformation continues to top the list of short-term risks, posing serious threats to social cohesion and governance by eroding public trust and deepening domestic and international divides.
A conceptual illustration showing the distinction between facts and fake news. /VCG
According to the report, environmental risks dominate the long-term outlook, with extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and resource shortages emerging as the most significant challenges over the next decade. Pollution, although a major short-term concern, is also a growing long-term threat as awareness of its harmful effects on health and ecosystems increases.
Additionally, the potential adverse consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) and the spread of disinformation are poised to reshape the technological landscape, creating profound future risks.
The report also reveals that experts are increasingly pessimistic about the global outlook, with many predicting that environmental, technological, and social challenges will lead to instability, intensifying divisions in international cooperation and putting substantial pressure on economic and social stability.
Wildfires continue in California, USA, with firefighting helicopters performing aerial firefighting operations, January 11, 2025. /VCG
As Mirek Dusek, managing director at the WEF, stated in a press release, in a world of deepening divisions and overlapping risks, global leaders face a crucial choice: "to find ways to foster collaboration and resilience, or face compounding vulnerabilities." The stakes of this decision, he warned, are unprecedented.
In conclusion, the report warns that the next decade will be pivotal in shaping the world's future. Based on these findings, nations must prioritize collective action to address governance shortcomings, rebuild global trust, and strengthen international cooperation.
Mark Elsner, head of the Global Risks Initiative at the WEF, emphasized that we are in the midst of a series of intertwined crises, from divisions to climate change. "Renewed efforts to rebuild trust and foster cooperation are urgently needed. The consequences of inaction could be felt for generations to come," said Elsner.
(Cover via VCG)