Issue Institutions better at spotting risks than at reducing them

Summary

The report measures multilateral preparedness as the average of the ability to identify risks and the ability to reduce them. Respondents located the main strength of multilateral institutions in spotting risks early and warning of new threats. Confidence in their capacity to actually reduce risks, however, weakened for 23 of the 28 risks over the past two years. Even for the best-prepared risks, namely climate change inaction, widespread debt crisis and geopolitical tensions, the high scores lean towards identification rather than reduction. The report reads these cases as showing that institutions are thought better able to respond where mandates are long-standing and mechanisms are already in place. Funding follows the same pattern, with shortfalls felt far more for reduction than for identification.