The World Economic Forum, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, cites water crises as the global risk of highest concern over the next 10 years in its Global Risks 2015 report. Failure of climate change adaptation is seen as the next highest risk within the next 10 years. Overall, these two risks, as well as interstate conflict and unemployment or underemployment, are identified as having the highest likelihood and impact of 28 risks assessed in the report. In addition, extreme weather events and interstate conflicts are identified as risks of greatest concern over the next 18 months.
The report notes that stresses on global water needs will be pushed beyond sustainable supplies by 2030 due to food production and energy generation needs. The report also identifies good practices on risk management and risk resilience
The report assesses risks based on the opinions of more than 800 leaders from around the world as to which risks most affect the stability of mankind. Several graphics that depict risk trends and risk interconnections, as well as a breakdown of how different experts responded to the survey, are also available.