Rising inequality and social polarisation are set to shape world developments for the next decade after contributing to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and the ballot-box success of US President-elect Donald Trump, the World Economic Forum said.
Climate change was underlined as the third major global trend in the WEF’s annual assessment of global risks, published at an event last week at Bloomberg LP’s European headquarters in London.
It said world leaders must work together to avoid “further hardship and volatility in the coming decade.”
“There’s a wide array of potential threats; growing social and political turmoil, potential business interruptions which could stem from inter-state conflict, from social instability, terrorist attacks,” John Drzik, president of global risk at Marsh USA Inc, which contributed to the study, said in an interview.
“This whole social and political context creates the potential for disruption,” Drzik said.
A weak economic recovery following the global financial crisis has widened the gap between rich and poor, fueling a sense of “economic malaise” that’s led to the rise of populist parties, according to the report.
While Brexit and Trump were the highest-profile signs of an anti-establishment backlash in Western democracies, the evidence extends far wider, with support growing for far-right parties in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands among others.
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(With inputs from BloombergQuint)
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