Global Future Council on the Future of Complex Risks

Global Future Council on the Future of Complex Risks

Council mission and objectives

Recent trends indicate a growing propensity for multiple, deeply interconnected crises - or polycrises - occurring simultaneously and creating progressively worsening tipping points, building towards global instability and complete upheavals in how societies and economies operate. Which risks are most likely to be interconnected and create complex risk clusters?

Co-Chairs
Azeem Azhar, Chief Executive Officer, Exponential View

Ngaire Woods, Dean, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

Council Manager
Kevin Kohler, Insights Specialist, Global Risks Practice, World Economic Forum

Forum Agenda blogs

Latest publications

Mobilizing thought leadership for impact

The Global Future Councils serve as a brain trust for leaders from government, business and civil society, and support the Forum’s mission by bringing together experts bound by a shared mission to discuss the most critical issues, generate insights and analysis, and collaborate in shaping agendas.

Explore the network of Global Future Councils

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Can China and Europe find common ground on AI ethics?

The cultural differences between China and Europe present a unique set of challenges when it comes to aligning AI ethics. Is a global framework possible?

Pascale Fung and Hubert Etienne 19 Nov 2021

Geopolitics

3 external risks to democracy and how to address them

Western democracies are becoming increasingly aware of the need to face domestic issues but they must also tackle these pressing foreign policy matters.

Amrita Narlikar 20 Oct 2021

Artificial Intelligence

Weapons powered by artificial intelligence pose a frontier risk and need to be regulated

Global regulations on the use of militarized artificial intelligence (AI) are insufficient. Here are some ideas for how to counter this frontier risk.

Jake Okechukwu 23 Jun 2021

Climate Change

Making sense of frontier risks and identifying early warning signs

How can we manage frontier risks more effectively? First we must tackle why decision makers often fail to prepare, then we can build resilient pathways.

Gail Whiteman 21 Jun 2021

Davos Agenda

What are frontier risks and how can we prepare for them?

"Frontier risks” are characterized by unknown likelihood and/or unknown impacts. Here are five ways leaders can prepare for frontier risks in the future.

Eric Parrado, Ngaire Woods, and Melinda Kuritzky 02 Jun 2021

Global Health

How to get better at making warnings

Most experts are not very good at warning for one main reason: they are not very specific, both in content or style.

Florence Gaub 24 Mar 2021

Explore strategic insights and contextual intelligence on global risks from the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum developed Strategic Intelligence to help you understand the global forces at play and make more informed decisions. Explore and monitor the issues and forces driving transformational change across more than 250 areas, including economies, industries and global issues, and identify the most relevant publications, videos, data, events, initiatives and stakeholders in those areas.

Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis