Global Risk Report

 

To better understand and prepare for complex risks, the United Nations has conducted a risk perception survey on 1,300 stakeholders across 155 countries.

Download Report

Open-pit mine viewed from above

Key Findings:

The global risk landscape has become more complex and more dynamic.

Political risks moved to the center. The risk of large-scale war was seen as especially prominent and increasingly imminent – 36 per cent of respondents now expect it within one year.

Concerns about AI and frontier technologies, including the risk of power concentration, rose sharply.

Climate change inaction remains the single most important of all 28 risks, though environmental risks as a category slightly decreased in perceived importance.

Six years after the Covid-19 pandemic, attention has shifted. Perceived importance of biorisks and new pandemics fell more than any other risk measured.

Joint action between governments is still perceived as the most effective response to global risks.

“The 2026 Global Risk Report sets out the evidence that must inform our choices. We owe it to present and future generations to use this knowledge wisely, and to act while cooperation can still shape a safer course. The choice is ours.

Portrait of the Secretary General, António Guterres