World Economic Forum: Top global risks all climate-related

The globe’s top five risks are all climate-related, according to an analysis released Wednesday from the World Economic Forum.

The Switzerland-based nonprofit analyzes worldwide risks annually, looking at a wide variety of economic, health and geopolitical issues. This year, many of the top problems facing the globe had direct links to climate and the environment.

Risk experts “are also sounding the alarm, ranking climate change and related environmental issues as the top five risks in terms of likelihood — the first time in the survey’s history that one category has occupied all five of the top spots,” the group wrote in its in its report. 

Extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, biodiversity loss and human-made environmental disasters constituted the top five risks. 

Climate scientists have cited the ongoing fires in Australia as an example of how extreme weather caused by climate change can exacerbate natural disasters, displacing humans while devastating plant and animal life along the way. 

The report noted growing dissatisfaction from citizens, citing protests and the potential for political unrest as world leaders fail to come to a consensus on how to deal with climate change.

“Despite the need to be more ambitious when it comes to climate action, the UN [United Nations] has warned that countries have veered off course when it comes to meeting their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change,” the report said.