
A lot can change in three months. As the year got underway, climate change was widely viewed as the most serious threat to global prosperity. The annual risk perception survey of the 2020 Global Risks Report, published by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Guy Carpenter-affiliate Marsh & McLennan, saw climate-related risks dominate the rankings in terms of both likelihood and impact.
Since then, climate change has fallen down the agenda as COVID-19 has risen up it. Although decision-makers were apparently blindsided by a virus, it does not mean their assessment of the risk posed by climate change was wrong, according to Rob Bailey, Director of Climate Resilience at Marsh & McLennan Advantage and Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director of Public Sector Innovation at Marsh & McLennan Advantage.