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1178. Global Risks 2025

1178. Global Risks 2025
According to the latest "Global Risks Report 2025" published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF), while many of the major concerns from 2024 are carried over, there are also notable shifts in risk perception.
This year's top five risks are:
State-based armed conflict
The wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan have brought unprecedented instability and pushed armed conflict to the top of the global risk list. The issue, which ranked ninth last year, now occupies the No. 1 spot, with nearly a quarter of experts surveyed citing it as their top concern.
Extreme weather
The increasing use of fossil fuels has increased the frequency and severity of floods, wildfires, and storms. Experts believe that of the $451 billion in weather-related damage in 2023, $143 billion is directly attributable to climate change.
Geoeconomic confrontation
The rise of protectionist trade policies, from trade wars to tariffs, reflects growing economic uncertainty worldwide. This risk highlights increasing economic tensions and their potential to disrupt international cooperation
Misinformation and disinformation
Advances in technology are accelerating the spread of false information, fostering civil unrest and threatening the free flow of information.
Societal polarization
The polarization of society, along with the widening political divide and inequality, undermines trust in institutions and divides shared values. This deepening polarization weakens the foundation of social cohesion around the world.
In the long-term outlook, environmental risks remain dominant, with extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, significant changes in the Earth system, and natural resource scarcity ranking the risks for the next 10 years. Extreme weather events were identified as immediate, short-term, and long-term risks. Environmental pollution, which ranked fifth among the top 10 long-term risks, also ranked sixth in the short term, reflecting a growing awareness of the serious health and ecological impacts of various pollutants across air, water, and land.
Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program