Environmental threats top Davos’ long-term global risks

Extreme weather comes second to war as a top concern in 2025.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters Sustainable Switch Sustainable Switch Climate Focus By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital Hello! Today's newsletter looks at the potential risks to the world's economy ahead of next week's annual summit in Davos. Extreme weather - the number 1 concern in 2024 - has been bumped down to second place over armed conflict as the top risk in 2025, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey as government and business leaders attend the summit in the Swiss skiing resort. Nearly one in four of the more than 900 experts surveyed across academia, business and policymaking ranked conflict, including wars and terrorism, as the most severe risk to economic growth for the year ahead. Syria, the "terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza" and the potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East will be a focus at the gathering, according to WEF President and CEO Borge Brende. Though extreme weather was not the top priority this year, the survey did reveal that environmental threats dominated experts' risk concerns over a 10-year horizon. Extreme weather was the top longer-term global risk, followed by biodiversity loss, critical change to the earth's systems, and a shortage of natural resources. This year has already started off with several extreme weather events including the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, United States, a deadly earthquake that killed hundreds in Tibet and Mount Ibu volcano's erupting in Indonesia's eastern island of Halmahera.    Climate Buzz 1. South Africa mine rescue ends, anger rises over 78 deaths in police siege This week in South Africa, rescuers pulled out at least 78 dead bodies from an illegal gold mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg. Police had encircled the mine since August and cut off food and water supplies to try to force the miners out so they could be arrested, resulting in what the GIWASU labour union called the worst state-sponsored massacre since the end of apartheid. The survivors, who are mostly from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho, have been arrested and charged with illegal immigration, trespass, illegal mining, and other offences. Trade unions called it a "horrific" crackdown on desperate people trying to eke out a living. Click here for the full Reuters report.   A rescued miner is carried in a stretcher by medical officials after police cut off food/water going underground for months in Stilfontein, South Africa. REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee 2. Los Angeles evacuees told to stay away from home for at least another week After 10 days of firefighters battling with unrelenting wildfires, Los Angeles officials told most evacuees to stay away from their homes for at least another week as emergency responders remove toxic waste from incinerated neighborhoods and cut off electricity and gas lines posing a hazard amid the ruins. 3. EU not ready to enforce pollution rules, airlines say Airline industry groups have warned the European Union that they cannot yet comply with pollution rules that came into force this month, according to a document seen by Reuters. The EU rules require airlines to track and report pollutants such as soot, nitrogen oxides and water vapour. However, the EU has not yet launched a promised system - known as NEATS - to collate the data for this reporting, prompting calls from airlines for an extension. 4. Trump's pick to lead EPA says agency not required to regulate carbon emissions Lee Zeldin, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said that he believed climate change was a real threat but that the agency he is poised to lead is just authorized, not required, to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. 5. Thai resort island Phuket grapples with growing garbage crisis In one corner of Phuket in southern Thailand, trucks and tractors trundle back and forth moving piles of trash around a sprawling landfill, the final destination for much of the more than 1,000 tonnes of waste collected there every day. What to Watch     Check out the house in Los Angeles owned by environmentalists Karina Maher and her husband Michael Kovac, which was built with an emphasis on sustainability and wildfire resilience. Click here or the image for the full video. Climate Commentary Asia has widened its renewable energy capacity lead over all other regions, writes Reuters global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire. The 450,000 megawatts (MW) of new renewable capacity cements Asia's position as the main global hub for renewable energy generation. Click here for more. Reuters sustainable business duo Simon Jessop and Ross Kerber, write about the Net Zero Asset Managers pausing its activities after BlackRock, the world's biggest investor, left amid a political backlash in the United States. Pharmaceutical giant GSK, cement manufacturer Holcim, and fashion brand owner Kering, now boast the world's first validated science-based targets for nature. But there's still a general reticence by corporates to commit to hard-and-fast nature metrics, writes Ethical Corp Magazine contributor Oliver Bach. Climate Lens     Following the mass exit by U.S. banks from the Net Zero Banking Alliance and BlackRock leaving the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative leading the group to suspend its activities, one would think that Wall Street is no longer prioritizing environmental issues. But Reuters Breakingviews columnist Antony Currie finds that this major climate cop-out is mostly superficial. Click here to find out his reasons. Number of the Week 150 billion rupees The amount that India's steel ministry has requested from the budget to offer mills incentives to produce low-carbon steel, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Sustainable Switch Climate Focus was edited by Tomasz Janowski. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com Sustainable Switch is sent three times a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. 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