The respondents were queried about several facets of risks. This included:<\/p>\n
Assessing risk in the short term (1\u20132 years)<\/p>\n
Medium term (up to 10 years)<\/p>\n
Long term (beyond 10 years)<\/p>\n
The risks were then rated on a sliding scale \u2013 from low to high impact.<\/a> The survey also explored how some risks could trigger others. Respondents were also asked to give feedback on what approaches or strategies they thought could best manage or tamp down the risks. It also asked respondents about how they thought nation states could cooperate and how this could affect the future.<\/p>\n The WEF also used data from the Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) while compiling its report. This data was compiled from over 11,000 business leaders across more than 100 nations. The WEF said the report identified global trends and localised risks by combining the GRPS and EOS.<\/p>\n Biggest risks to the world in 2026<\/p>\n The WEF, in its report, \u201cIt\u2019s very much about state-based armed conflict and the concerns around that. So overall, nearly a third of our respondents are very concerned in 2026 about what that means for the global economy and, essentially, the state of the world,\u201d WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi told CNBC.<\/p>\n Trump, after returning to the Oval Office in January 2025, had announced his \u2018Liberation Day\u2019 tariffs in April. The United States had levied tariffs on hundreds of its trading partners, including India, China, Japan, Germany and Brazil \u2013 which led to tensions between the countries.<\/p>\n It listed state-based armed conflict \u2014 such as the war raging in Ukraine \u2014 as the second biggest risk for respondents at 14 per cent. Israel and Iran also fought a brief 12-day conflict in 2025. Meanwhile, Trump sent special forces to Venezuela to depose its long-time President Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n Extreme weather events came in third at eight per cent<\/a>. This indicates that economic and geopolitical tensions now outweigh environmental and technological risks, which have traditionally been a major concern, at least in the short term.<\/p>\n However, the report warned that though the environment may have receded in the background in the short term, it remained a massive risk in the long term.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n The WEF report also listed societal polarisation and misinformation and disinformation as notable social risks. This comes as misinformation has gone viral during elections on platforms such as X and Facebook and amid the rise of deepfakes, particularly content generated by AI.<\/p>\n It said that around half of respondents think the next two years will be \u201cturbulent\u201d or \u201cstormy\u201d,<\/a> a 14-point increase from the survey last year. \u201cExtreme heat, drought, wildfires and other extreme weather events are likely to become more intense and frequent,\u201d the report stated. \u201cUnlike in the two-year outlook, where these have declined in rankings, the existential nature of environmental risks means they remain as the top priorities over the next decade,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n Around 57 per cent of respondents Biggest risks to India<\/p>\n The report highlighted cybersecurity as the biggest risk to India in 2026.<\/p>\n Much of this is down to India\u2019s growing dependence on digital infrastructure, particularly when it comes to governance and making payments. It said India also faces risks to its stability from potential slowdowns and external shocks. It said tariffs and supply chain issues could heighten the risk of a slowdown domestically.<\/p>\n It also highlighted how critical infrastructure is becoming a growing flashpoint between nations. It cited water security concerns and noted that the Indus River Basin between India and Pakistan could become a bone of contention. India has already suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.<\/p>\n Experts say the world has much to watch out for in 2026.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n \u201cToday is not a moment of a big global crisis, it\u2019s a moment of poly-crises,\u201d Marsh CEO John Doyle told CNBC. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot for businesses to confront and to manage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Zahidi said that even though leaders remain \u201chighly distracted\u201d by \u201cwars that don\u2019t end\u201d and other concerns, the climate remains a long-term issue. \u201cThat big looming existential risk around climate is still there. But our collective capacity and mind share \u2026 to act on it, that\u2019s what\u2019s been reduced,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n With inputs from agencies<\/p>\n Home<\/a>Explainers<\/a>What are the biggest risks for India and the world in 2026?End of Article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday released its Global Risks Report. The WEF, in its paper, warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164,219193,40650,219194],"class_list":{"0":"post-415192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-global-risks-report","13":"tag-world-economic-forum","14":"tag-world-economic-forum-2026"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nlisted geoeconomic confrontation, such as sanctions and tariffs, as<\/a> the top risk for 2026. It said 18 per cent of respondents polled labelled such geoeconomic confrontations as the main concern for the world. The WEF warned that \u201crules and institutions that have long underpinned stability are under siege in a new era in which trade, finance and technology are wielded as weapons of influence\u201d.<\/p>\nCaptured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Reuters<\/p>\n
However, for the long term, it noted that the biggest risks came from the climate emergency. It listed \u201cextreme weather events\u201d as topping the list, followed by \u201cbiodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse\u201d and \u201ccritical change to Earth systems\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nsaid they expected \u2018prolonged instability\u2019 over the next decade.<\/a><\/p>\n
Though it cited India\u2019s Unified Payments Interface as an example of a government improving the banking system, it also flagged income inequality and a lack of social welfare schemes as key risks for India.<\/p>\nA child stands near Chenab River with the Baglihar hydroelectric project in the background, about 155 km northwest of Jammu. File photo\/Reuters<\/p>\n