We've had to deal with a lot during the past couple of years: the pandemic, supply chains, the war in Ukraine, inflation, extreme weather, to name a few. Now there's a word to describe the state of the world: polycrisis.
The word has been mentioned a few times in the past but is in the spotlight this week as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, adopted it for its 2023 Global Risks Report for "a new descriptor to define the scale of the problems the world is facing."
"A majority of respondents to the [global risks perception survey] saw little hope of a quick solution to the many crises the world is facing," the forum said in a news release on the new report. "When asked to characterize what they expected to see 10 years from now, 20 percent said 'progressive tipping points and persistent crises would lead to catastrophic outcomes.'"
The Davos meeting also featured a report noting that the world is more reliant on using virgin materials than it did in 2018, rather than becoming more circular.
Beyond planning for the unexpected — or living in a constant state of panic — consultants said the world must do more to work together to prepare for and respond to risks.