The Global Risks Report 2024, recently published by the World Economic Forum, analyses the challenges facing the planet in the next two years and the following decade.

The most serious global risk identified in the report – based on nearly 1,500 expert interviews – for 2026 is directly related to misinformation and disinformation, which will deepen social and political divisions. The widespread use of disinformation and the tools to spread it, it warns, can undermine the legitimacy of newly elected governments. The resulting unrest could lead to violent protests and hate crimes, civil clashes and terrorism, he continues.

Beyond elections, more polarised perceptions of reality are expected to infiltrate public discourse on issues ranging from public health to social justice. Against this backdrop, the risk of domestic propaganda and censorship is expected to increase, the report notes. In response to misinformation and disinformation, governments could control information based on what they consider to be “true”, affecting freedoms relating to the internet, the press and access to information sources.

After the hottest summer in history in the northern hemisphere, two out of three respondents believe that extreme weather (the second most severe risk in the next two years) could cause a global material crisis in 2024, with the prospect of the warming phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle intensifying and persisting until May this year.

When it comes to environmental risks, there are discrepancies between younger and older respondents. While the former perceive biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and critical change in earth systems as an urgency, the latter and the private sector see it as a long-term concern.

Cyber insecurity at a time of expanding and exploiting advanced technologies is emerging as the fourth global risk by 2026, followed by inter-state armed conflict. There are entrenched conflicts that risk escalating in the short term due to threats of contagion or increasing state fragility, the report says.

Lack of economic opportunity, inflation, involuntary migration, economic recession and pollution complete the top 10 of the main risks society warns of over the next two years.

 

💡 Read the full report