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Environmental Issues Top Worries for Those Heading to Davos

Associated Press

   LONDON - Environmental issues make up the top five risks to the global
   economy for the coming decade, organizers of next week's World Economic
   Forum 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 polarized, 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 [1]Global
   Risks Report 2020 identified economic disputes as the number one risk
   to the global economy this year. For the longer-term outlook, however,
   environmental concerns accounted for the top five risks.

References

   1. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020

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