In a recent survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, economic and societal threats have taken center stage as the primary concerns for business leaders in G20 countries over the next two years.
The Executive Opinion Survey gathered insights from more than 11,000 business leaders across 110 countries between April and August 2023, revealing a consensus on the pressing issues facing G20 nations.
Even before the outbreak of the current conflict in the Middle East, the survey identified economic and societal risks as the foremost worries against a backdrop of escalating global political tensions and persistent inflationary environments.
An economic downturn emerged as the most commonly cited risk by G20 business leaders, topping the list in 13 of the G20 countries. Inflation, labor or talent shortages, energy supply shortages, and an erosion of social cohesion and wellbeing rounded out the top five concerns.
Contrary to expectations amidst growing environmental consciousness and COP28 in Dubai, environmental risks took a backseat in this year’s results.
Notably, extreme weather events and climate change adaptation failures were mentioned just eight times among the top five risks across G20 countries. Technological risks, including those related to artificial intelligence, made only three appearances in the G20’s top five rankings.
Across all regions, an “economic downturn” emerged as the top risk, underlining strikingly common concerns between advanced economies and emerging markets. The only environmental risk to crack the top 10 across all income groups was “extreme weather events.”
Carolina Klint, Chief Commercial Officer, Europe, Marsh McLennan, said: “Acute economic and societal risks continue to worry G20 business leaders in the near term. While rightly addressing these immediate concerns, they should also remain mindful that, by overlooking significant technological risks, they could leave their organisations vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber and AI-related threats which may profoundly affect their prosperity and the communities in which they are based.”
Peter Giger, Group Chief Risk Officer, Zurich Insurance Group, said: “Short-term risks such as economic and labor market-related ones dominate the global agenda today. It is important for companies to respond to these challenges keeping a balanced perspective on short and longer-term risks. Businesses may feel they have little control over existential threats such as climate change. However, it is critical for companies to explore ways to mitigate these risks while at the same time responding to the immediate challenges.”
