13 Jan 2023
by Adam Young

WEF Global Risk Report 2023: What does it mean for Tech?

New WEF report outlines the global risk landscape with implications for the tech sector and sustainability

On 11 January, the WEF published its Global Risks Report for the new year, describing a “polycrisis” facing the world, in which risks are highly interdependent and exacerbate each other. The report called for integrated and immediate mitigation to address these crises and warns of the dangers of low investment in resilience.

The report also offers some action pathways to address the “polycrisis” it outlines, including a Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by technology, an energy transition and leveraging the health sector.

The report is divided up into 8 sections, including the following:

  • Energy Transition,
    • The crisis in the global energy system, catalysed by the events of 2022, has brought forward the need for immediate action to diversify the energy mixture and the revolutionise the delivery mechanisms of power. The report mentions the three dimensions of energy being sustainability, security, and affordability. Balancing these dimensions is argued to be key to achieving net zero by 2050 but relies on rapid clean power deployment, investment in energy efficiency and the deployment of CO2 removal tech.
  • 4th Industrial Revolution Technology,
    • The technologies characteristic of a Fourth Industrial Revolution is slated to be Green Tech, Adaptive AI, and Quantum Computing. The WEF argues that the harnessing of these technologies and the data associated with their use will be critical for national security and sovereignty. The report also stresses the importance of interoperability and data flows across borders and between companies to achieve sustainability targets. Finally, investment in digital trust is cited as a key consideration for this renewed digital economy.
  • Climate action,
    • The WEF starts by recognising the key near term risk, the cost-of-living crisis, and linked this to the looming energy and food crises which climate change underpins. Public-private collaboration and policy are said to be key to scale innovation in the fight against climate change. Collaboration along value chains and with governments will be critical to private sector leadership on climate change.
  • Overcoming mineral resource scarcity,
    • Minerals are recognised as increasingly critical for the clean energy transition but there is concern over the supply and demand relationship when it comes to Critical Raw Minerals (CRMs) which may present new risks linked to scarcity. This WEF report confirms that demand is unlikely to be met and may result in environmental pressure on ecosystems, clean tech adoption faltering and reduced standards on responsible mining. Collaboration, leadership and CSOs are likely to be key to mitigate the worsts of the risks associated with CRMs.
  • Circular economy innovation,
    • This report cites resource circularity as a key enabler for tackling the current triple planetary crises on climate, biodiversity, and pollution, while also providing economic growth and stability. Ecological design of manufactured products, ensuring that all materials are circular in nature, would minimise harm to the planet. This is suggested to help to address the scarcity of CRMs noted elsewhere in the report. This will require companies and governments to adopt circular operating and business models, a complete paradigm shift. This work has begun in many companies already. To do so is said to increase the resilience of industries, reduce resource pressure and drastically reduce waste from current operating models.

The full risk map from WEF Global Risks Report 2023 can be found below.

wef risk map.jpg

To find out more about any of the topic areas discussed in this report, please get in touch with the team at techUK:

Adam Young

Adam Young

Programme Manager, Environment, techUK

Adam joined techUK in September 2021 working in the Climate, Environment & Sustainability Team. 

Adam has a Masters in Climate Change: Science, Environment and Policy from King's College London, as well as a Batchelor's degree in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Kent. 

The Environment Programme encompasses many different areas of the tech market and policy sphere. Climate change is the highest policy priority for the programme, with ethical resourcing, supply chain due diligence, build environment digitalisation and economic circularity becoming increasingly prominent in the programmes activities.

Before working at techUK Adam worked in the NHS. His interest in nature and conservation led him to going on several conservation projects abroad including Peru and Fiji, working with caiman and tropical fish. When Adam is not saving the planet, he is either playing music, at the gym or playing cricket in the summer.

Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-young-28047a160/

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Craig Melson

Craig Melson

Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability, techUK

Craig is Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability and leads on our work in these areas ranging from climate change, ESG disclosures and due diligence, through to circular economy, business and human rights, conflict minerals and post-Brexit regulation.

Prior to joining techUK he worked in public affairs and policy has an avid interest in new and emerging technologies. Craig has a degree in Ancient History from King’s College London and spends his time watching Watford FC and holding out hope for Half Life 3.

Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
020 7331 2172
Twitter:
@techUK,@techUK
Website:
www.techuk.org,www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/craig-melson-25479936,https://uk.linkedin.com/in/craig-melson-25479936

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Lucas Banach

Lucas Banach

Programme Assistant, Data Centres, Climate, Environment and Sustainability, Market Access, techUK

Lucas Banach is Programme Assistant at techUK, he works on a range of programmes including Data Centres; Climate, Environment & Sustainability; Market Access and Smart Infrastructure and Systems.

Before that Lucas who joined in 2008, held various roles in our organisation, which included his role as Office Executive, Groups and Concept Viability Administrator, and most recently he worked as Programme Executive for Public Sector. He has a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski Cracow University.

Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
020 7331 2006
Twitter:
@techUK
Website:
www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-banach-50139650

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Authors

Adam Young

techUK