The Global Risks Report 2022

The Global Risks Report 2022 identifies a world drifting apart due to uneven pandemic recovery, which hinders the international cooperation needed to address systemic threats. The report highlights 'climate action failure' as the most severe long-term risk, while noting immediate threats from 'social cohesion erosion' and 'livelihood crises'. It further examines the dangers of a disorderly climate transition, escalating cyber vulnerabilities, increasing barriers to international migration, and the emerging risks of space militarization and congestion.

• Environmental risks are perceived as the most critical long-term threats to the world, with 'climate action failure', 'extreme weather', and 'biodiversity loss' ranking as the top three most severe risks over a 10-year horizon.
• The global economic recovery is divergent; by 2024, advanced economies are expected to surpass pre-pandemic GDP growth by 0.9%, while developing economies (excluding China) are projected to be 5.5% below that path.
• A disorderly climate transition is likely if the net zero goal by 2050 is pursued with current insufficient commitments, potentially causing economic volatility and job losses in carbon-intensive sectors.
• Cybersecurity threats are outpacing the ability of societies to respond, with malware and ransomware attacks increasing by 358% and 435% respectively in 2020.
• There is a significant global shortage of cybersecurity professionals, with a gap of more than 3 million people worldwide.
• Involuntary migration is a critical long-term concern, driven by conflict, political instability, and climate change, with over 34 million people displaced abroad from conflict alone in 2020.
• Climate change could displace more than 200 million people by 2050 due to more frequent and extreme weather events.
• Space activity is increasing the risk of collisions and the proliferation of space debris, with an estimated 1 million pieces of debris larger than 1 centimetre currently in orbit.
• The militarization of space is growing, evidenced by the creation of dedicated space forces in the US, UK, and Japan, and the conduct of anti-satellite weapons tests by Russia.
• Social cohesion erosion is identified as the risk that has worsened the most globally since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
• International risk mitigation efforts are perceived as severely lacking in areas such as artificial intelligence, space exploitation, cross-border cyberattacks, and migration.
• The global economy is projected to be 2.3% smaller by 2024 than it would have been without the pandemic.

APA

World Economic Forum (2022). The Global Risks Report 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. The Global Risks Report 2022. 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=The Global Risks Report 2022 |date=2022 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2022global, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{The Global Risks Report 2022}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }