This is stated in the new Global Risks Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
According to the report, half of surveyed business executives and organizational leaders expect unstable conditions over the next two years, while only 1% anticipate a more calm period. The current situation is described as one in which the world is “on the edge of a precipice.”
The report is based on a survey of around 1,300 representatives from governments, business, and other organizations. It notes that “geoeconomic confrontation” has emerged as the top threat to business over the next two years. The WEF highlights intensifying competition and the growing use of economic tools—such as tariffs, regulation, supply chains, and capital controls—as instruments of pressure, warning that this could lead to a significant contraction in global trade.
“Much of this is about interstate armed conflicts and the risks associated with them. Nearly one-third of respondents are deeply concerned about how this will affect the global economy and overall stability in 2026,”
said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the WEF, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.
According to the report, concerns related to economic risks showed the sharpest increase among all WEF risk categories over the next two years. Anxiety is growing over a potential recession, rising inflation, and the formation of asset bubbles, driven by high levels of government debt and financial market volatility.
John Doyle, CEO of Marsh, the world’s largest insurance brokerage and a partner of the WEF in preparing the report, described the current environment in an interview with CNBC as a “period of multiple crises.” He cited trade and cultural wars, rapid technological change, and the impact of extreme weather events as key challenges for business.
In the WEF ranking, misinformation and disinformation took second place among short-term risks, followed by societal polarization. Over a ten-year horizon, inequality was identified as the most significant interconnected long-term risk.
The report places particular emphasis on artificial intelligence. Potential negative consequences of AI development were identified as the fastest-growing risk: within a year, AI-related risks rose from 30th place among short-term threats to fifth place among long-term risks. The WEF warns that labor displacement could lead to a sharp increase in income inequality, deeper social divisions, reduced consumer spending, and vicious cycles of economic slowdown and social unrest—even amid major productivity gains.
The report also highlights the accelerating development and convergence of machine learning and quantum technologies, which the authors warn could create scenarios “in which humanity loses control.”
According to Zahidi, while environmental risks have clearly moved to the background in the short term, extreme weather events remain the top threat over the next ten years among surveyed leaders. Global insured losses from natural disasters in 2025 are estimated to reach $107 billion, exceeding $100 billion for the sixth consecutive year—a sharp increase compared with the early 2000s.
Marsh CEO Doyle added that the California wildfires in early 2025 illustrate the need for regulation that allows insurance pricing to accurately reflect underlying risk in order to attract more capital to insurance markets.
“There are those who take on risk, and there are investors and insurers willing to finance it. It’s critical that building codes are fit for purpose, that we learn from past events, and that technology is deployed in a way that allows risks to be managed effectively,”
he said.
The report warns that extreme heat, droughts, wildfires, and other hazardous weather events are likely to become more intense and frequent.
At the same time, environmental risks such as critical changes to Earth systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and pollution have fallen significantly in the global risk rankings. This reflects a shift in priorities and what currently concerns global leaders most
As Zahidi noted, while leaders are “heavily distracted” by short-term challenges such as prolonged wars, inflation, and misinformation, underlying concerns about sustainability remain unresolved.
“This large-scale existential risk related to climate has not gone away. What has diminished is our collective capacity and attention to act on it,”
she said.
The report strongly emphasizes the importance of “coalitions of the willing” and cooperation between governments, business, academia, and civil society to strengthen resilience and develop effective responses to the world’s most pressing challenges.
At the same time, Zahidi expressed concern about a “retreat from multilateralism” and the onset of a “new era of competition,” stressing that threats such as climate change and future pandemics cannot be addressed without cooperation.
“Will we be able to act together when it truly matters?”
she concluded in her interview with CNBC.
The WEF report makes it clear that the global risk landscape is no longer dominated by isolated threats but by tightly interconnected crises. Without renewed international coordination—especially around geopolitics, AI governance, and economic stability—short-term shocks risk cascading into long-term systemic damage that markets and institutions may struggle to absorb.
