London — The World Economic Forum has released its eighth annual Global Risks Report, which lists top global threats identified by a survey of over 1,000 experts. As in last year's report, 2013's risks were topped by economic and financial concerns, particularly the risk of major systemic economic failure.

So far so predictable. But high in the rankings of nail-biting concerns were also risks related to climate change, both rising greenhouse gas emissions and the failure of governments and businesses to mitigate or adapt to these changes.

At the report's launch, John Drzik, the CEO of the risk and insurance services group Oliver Wyman, said, "We see two big risks coming together, one is an environmental storm and the other is an economic storm, and we see them on a collision course."

He pointed out that governments like the US have been acting as insurers of last resort, bearing an increasing burden of providing relief in the aftermath of natural disasters.

"It's creating rising expectations in the public for government to step in and provide relief after disasters," he said, "but this is where it hits the economic storm because the government now has less ability to respond."

Drzik told IRIN that this applies not just to domestic relief operations but also to international emergency aid. "It adds to the risk for developing countries that the capacity to support disaster relief to developing countries for catastrophes they face is weakened now ... because of the fiscal position of advanced countries."

View from the top

The survey sample is a particular one, comprised of members of the "World Economic Forum's communities", including senior figures in government, business, international organizations and academia.

This year, respondents came from more than 100 countries, but were heavily skewed towards Europe and North America. More than 40 percent of respondents came from a business background, and less than 30 percent were women. Still, respondents included prominent global figures whose responsibilities give them an acute awareness of future risks.

Tom Mitchell, who works on climate change and risk and resilience issues at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, is doubtful about how useful the Forum's surveys are to development practitioners, but he likes the report's emphasis on the linkages between risks.