COVID-19 and climate change are rapidly
making it clear that, in today’s crowded
and interconnected world, disaster impacts
increasingly cascade across geographies
and sectors. Despite progress, risk creation is
outstripping risk reduction. Disasters, economic
loss and the underlying vulnerabilities that drive
risk, such as poverty and inequality, are increasing
just as ecosystems and biospheres are at risk
of collapse. Global systems are becoming more
connected and therefore more vulnerable in
an uncertain risk landscape. Local risks, like a
new virus in Wuhan, China, can become global;
global risks like climate change are having major
impacts in every locality. Indirect, cascading
impacts can be significant. For example, many
countries felt the negative economic impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic months before ever
registering a single case of the disease. Without
increased action to build resilience to systemic
risk, the SDGs cannot be achieved. GAR2022 explores how, around the world,
structures are evolving to better address
systemic risk. The report shows how
governance systems can evolve to reflect
the interconnected value of people, the
planet and prosperity. It outlines how actions
such as changing what is measured to
account for factors such as sustainability,
the value of ecosystems and future climate
change impacts can have a powerful
effect, including unmasking dangerous
imbalances in existing systems. Investment
in understanding risk is the foundation for
sustainable development.
Authors
- Published in
- Switzerland