AMMAN — The Global Risks Report 2022, which
was issued by the
World Economic Forum (WEF), revealed that Jordan will face
five risks this year, including the debt crisis, unemployment and livelihood
crises, natural resource crisis, prolonged economic stagnation, and price
instability, according to Al-Rai newspaper.
اضافة اعلان
Climate risks topped the most prominent global
concerns according to the report. However, although the most prominent
long-term risks were about climate change, the most important global concerns
that followed included societal, work, and living crises, and the decline of
mental health.
The report, in its 17th edition, highlights four new
risks, namely cyber security, unregulated migration, migration pressures, and
competition in space, as the launch of 70,000 satellites in the coming decades
and space tourism raise concerns about the risks of collision off planet Earth,
especially with lack of organization.
The
COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and social
consequences still pose a serious threat to the world, as the report indicated
that the inequality in vaccination and the outcome of economic recovery
threatens to exacerbate geopolitical tensions.
The Global Risks Report series tracks global
risks perceptions among risk experts and world leaders in business, government,
and civil society. It examines risks across five categories: economic,
environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological.
Every year the report also analyzes key risks to
explore further; these could be risks that feature prominently on the survey,
those for which warning signs are beginning to surface, or potential blind
spots in risk perceptions
The report pointed out that only 6 percent of the
population of the poorest 52 countries have been vaccinated, and by 2024,
countries with developing economies (excluding China) will see their
GDP decrease by 5.5 percent, while countries with developed economies will have
exceeded GDP growth expectations by 0.9 percent, which widens the global
financial gap.
On COVID-19 effects, respondents noted that societal
and environmental risks have worsened the most since the start of the pandemic,
with “social cohesion erosion” and “livelihood crises” taking the top spots.
Other risks identified as having worsened significantly are “debt crises”, “cyber
security failures”, “digital inequality”, and “backlash against science”.
The most serious challenge persisting
from the pandemic is economic stagnation. The macroeconomic outlook
remains weak, with the global economy expected to be 2.3 percent smaller by
2024 than it would have been without the pandemic. Commodity prices, inflation,
and debt are rising in both the developed and developing worlds.
On the prospects of economic recovery, 89 percent perceived the short-term outlook to be
volatile, fractured, or increasingly catastrophic. Fully 84 percent of
respondents expressed negative feelings about the future — that is, they were
“concerned” or “worried”. Pervasive pessimism could create a cycle of
disillusionment that makes galvanizing action even more challenging.
The results of an opinion poll that included about 1,000
business and government leaders and academics revealed that 1 in 6 members
is optimistic about the future of the world, coming at 16 percent, while only 1
out of 10 believe that the world’s recovery is accelerating, coming at 11
percent.
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