The World Economic Forum has released its 21st annual Global Risks Report 2026, sparking debate over a noticeable change in how experts view climate and environmental threats in the near future. The report suggests that immediate global attention is increasingly moving toward geopolitical and economic instability, even as environmental risks remain critical over the longer term.
For the first time, geoeconomic confrontation topped the list of short-term risks for the next two years. Around 18% of surveyed experts identified it as the most likely trigger for a global crisis in 2026, pointing to tariffs, sanctions, and supply-chain controls as key tools in rising international competition.
The second most significant short-term risk is the spread of misinformation, which the report links to the rapid expansion of generative AI and the growing ease of producing convincing fake content at scale.
One of the most striking shifts is the declining short-term priority given to climate and environmental risks. Extreme weather dropped from 2nd to 4th place, while pollution fell from 6th to 9th. Other nature-related risks also lost ground, including critical changes in Earth systems, as well as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Despite this, the report underlines that environmental threats still dominate the long-term outlook. Five of the top ten risks over the next decade remain climate- and nature-related, including extreme weather, biodiversity decline, resource shortages, and pollution.
The report also highlights mounting infrastructure vulnerability, especially in OECD countries where systems require major upgrades while extreme weather becomes more frequent. In lower- and middle-income economies, unreliable transport, energy, and water infrastructure is already costing companies at least $300 billion per year, according to World Bank estimates.
Another key finding is that inequality remains the most interconnected global risk for the second year in a row, amplifying other threats and deepening instability. Meanwhile, economic risks showed the sharpest short-term rise, with concerns about slowdowns, inflation, and asset bubbles growing amid high debt burdens and uncertainty around returns from emerging technologies such as AI.
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