Worldwide business leaders face growing risk challenges including increased technology and cyber risks, societal challenges, and deepening geopolitical divides. These risks will continue to shape the business landscape over the next 12 months, say Marsh and Zurich executives in response to a recently released report by the World Economic Forum.
Uncertainty is the defining theme of the WEF’s Global Risks Report 2026, which captures insights from experts worldwide on key risks that affect business leaders today (in 2026), in the near future (to 2028), and in the long term (to 2036).
Geoeconomic confrontation is top of mind for respondents and was selected as the risk most likely to trigger a material global crisis in 2026. This is followed by state-based armed conflict. International cooperative movements were cited as a growing and important concern.
The report noted: “As cooperative mechanisms crumble, with governments retreating from multilateral frameworks, stability is under siege. A contested multipolar landscape is emerging where confrontation is replacing collaboration, and trust–the currency of cooperation–is losing its value.”
This divide will continue to add to the risk landscape, experts say.
“Deepening divisions are at the center of the societal risks we all now face, from social fragmentation and inequality, to declining health and wellbeing,” said Andrew George, president, Specialty, Marsh Risk, in a statement on the report. “Despite the growing severity of these global risks, major governments are moving away from many established frameworks designed to tackle our shared challenges.”
Over the next two years, the report ranked the top five global risks as: 1. geoeconomic confrontation, 2. misinformation and disinformation, 3. societal polarization, 4. extreme weather events, and 5. state-based armed conflict.
Over the next 10 years, the report ranked the top five risks as: 1. extreme weather events, 2. biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, 3. critical change to earth systems, 4. misinformation and disinformation, and 5. adverse outcomes of AI technologies.
One global risk not captured as an immediate top concern is the growing threat to infrastructures worldwide, said Peter Giger, group chief risk officer, Zurich, in a statement.
“Despite extreme weather, cyberattacks, and geopolitical conflicts posing escalating threats, disruptions to critical infrastructure ranked just 23rd among global risks for the next decade. This is a dangerous oversight,” Giger said. From power grids strained by record heat to coastal cities at risk from rising seas, critical infrastructure systems are underprepared and underfunded, he said. “When infrastructure fails, everything else is at risk.”
The report gathered survey insights from 1,300 experts and 11,000 business leaders, alongside interviews with hundreds of experts, to assess how they view risks in the near, short, and long term. The Global Risks Report is produced by the Global Risks Initiative at the WEF’s Centre for the New Economy and Society. Marsh and Zurich are partners of the WEF and members of its Global Risks Advisory Board.
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