Is the World Economic Forum too downbeat?

The annual risk report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) is interesting to read, though it probably says more about the current sentiment amongst its respondents than it does about how the future might look like.

In the last report before the Covid-19 pandemic, the risk of infectious disease barely made it into the top 10 risk list (neither on likelihood nor on severity). This is risk management in a nutshell – risk assessment and actual outcomes will seldom match.

What is sad about this year's report is that only 15% of the respondents feel positive about the outlook for the world. In hindsight of Covid-19, almost all material risks have significantly increased in the perception of this influential group of decision makers. 

From a ClaimsCarbon point of view it's interesting to note that Climate action failure is now clearly the number one risk both in the medium and long term, whilst Extreme weather is on top of the list for the short term.

While it’s certainly prudent to be aware of risks, one can't help but wonder if the pandemic has skewed our perspectives a bit too much?

We would certainly hope that everyone, including key decision makers, would get more enthusiastic about the future when the blurriness of the pandemic disappears.

Featured image credit: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen @ Unsplash