Economic confrontation between nations and its consequences topped the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual risk perception survey released on Wednesday, replacing armed conflict as the number one concern of more than 1,300 experts surveyed around the world.
The survey also showed that environmental risk perceptions declined in ranking, while other concerns came to the fore, particularly fears about the long-term consequences of weak AI governance.
Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos starting next week, cited rising tariffs, controls on foreign investment and tighter controls on the supply of resources such as critical minerals as examples of “geo-economic confrontation”, which ranks as the main risk.
“(It’s) when economic policy tools essentially become weapons rather than a basis for cooperation,” he said in an online news conference.
US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies have led to a sharp increase in US trade tariffs around the world and fueled tensions between the United States and China, dominant in critical minerals and the world’s second-largest economy.
Perceived risks around extreme weather over the next two years fell from second to fourth place and pollution from sixth to ninth. Anxiety over critical changes to Earth systems and biodiversity loss fell seven and five spots respectively.
However, when asked what their most pressing concerns were over a longer period of 10 years, those same respondents ranked those environmental concerns in the top three.
Anxiety over “adverse outcomes of AI technologies” ranked 30th at the two-year horizon, but fifth at the 10-year horizon.
Zahidi said the survey revealed that most concerns centered on how insufficient governance around AI could harm employment, society and mental health, while it was increasingly being used as a weapon in war.
The WEF said its annual survey is based on responses from “more than 1,300 global leaders and experts from academia, business, government, international organizations and civil society.”
