In exploring the global risks landscape for 2014, this report has highlighted the importance of several underlying themes in tackling global risks:
- Trust is necessary if stakeholders are to work together to tackle global risks, but trust is being undermined in some systemically important areas. For example, much of the younger generation lacks trust in traditional political institutions and leaders, while recent revelations about cyber espionage have undermined trust in the Internet in general and the governance of cyberspace in particular.
- Long-term thinking is a prerequisite for any approach to global risks. This report has explored strategies through which corporations and governments can attempt to incentivize a shift from short-term to long-term time horizons.
- Collaborative multistakeholder action is required as businesses, governments, or civil society alone do not have both the tools and the authority to tackle systemic risks. We hope that the mapping of global risks and their interconnections will provide a common base to better understand risks and their consequences, and for dialogue as a first step towards collective action.
- Global governance is key to addressing global risks such as climate change or cybersecurity, but new models are urgently needed as the world’s increasing multipolarity renders its current global governance structures unwieldy and outdated.
This report has aimed to increase awareness of and inspire action on the most important risks the world faces over the next 10 years, in the hope of addressing the most pressing of these challenges. The World Economic Forum will continue to provide a platform for leaders to work together on preparing for risks, mitigating them and strengthening resilience.