{"id":462068,"date":"2021-01-23T13:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=462068"},"modified":"2021-01-22T13:13:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T11:13:03","slug":"covid-19-pandemic-could-be-source-of-global-crises-for-years-wef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/462068\/covid-19-pandemic-could-be-source-of-global-crises-for-years-wef\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 pandemic could be source of global crises for years: WEF"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coronavirus has exposed the \u201ccatastrophic effects\u201d of ignoring long-term risks such as pandemics, and the economic and political consequences could cause more crises for years to come, according to the World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n

The WEF\u2019s annual survey of global risks lists infectious disease and livelihood crises as the top \u201cclear and present dangers\u201d over the next two years. Knock-on effects such as asset bubbles and price instability lead concerns over 3-5 years.<\/p>\n

The WEF said most countries struggled with crisis management during the pandemic, despite some remarkable examples of determination and cooperation. That highlights how leaders need to prepare better for whatever the next major shock turns out to be.<\/p>\n

Risky Business<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe immediate human and economic cost of Covid-19 is severe,\u201d the WEF said in the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ramifications – in the form of social unrest, political fragmentation and geopolitical tensions – will shape the effectiveness of our responses to the other key threats of the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the impact of the pandemic is dominant at the moment, other events will likely come to the fore, according to the survey. As in previous years, extreme weather is seen as the most-likely risk, just ahead of a failure on climate action.<\/p>\n

Infectious diseases make the top five for the first time in at least a decade. Digital inequality and the concentration of digital power are also seen as major concerns.<\/p>\n

The WEF\u2019s recommendations for boosting resilience include combating misinformation, especially as coronavirus vaccines are rolled out. It cited one example of false information — that ingesting highly concentrated alcohol kills Covid-19 — which caused more than 700 deaths and nearly 6,000 hospitalizations in Iran.<\/p>\n

More broadly, it said post-truth politics are \u201camplifying hate speech, heightening the risk of conflict, violence and human rights violations, and threatening long-term prospects for advancing democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggest Global Risks<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The forum also recommended \u201cholistic\u201d risk analysis, investing in \u201crisk champions\u201d to encourage international cooperation, and exploring new forms of risk management such as public-private partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf lessons from this crisis only inform decision-makers how to better prepare for the next pandemic – rather than enhancing risk processes capabilities and culture – the world will be again planning for the last crisis rather than anticipating the next,\u201d the WEF said.<\/p>\n

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Read: South Africa\u2019s first major Covid-19 vaccine supplier says that doses are ready to ship<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coronavirus has exposed the \u201ccatastrophic effects\u201d of ignoring long-term risks such as pandemics, and the economic and political consequences could cause more crises for years to come, according to the World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":414841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-462068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462068"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462916,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462068\/revisions\/462916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}