Issue Climate inaction as a system driver, societal risks as consequences

Summary

Using the causal links respondents drew among the 28 risks, the report compared how many other risks each one triggers with how many trigger it. Climate change inaction stands out in the network as one of the risks with the strongest power to set off others. The report interprets this as meaning that climate action matters not only for the climate itself but for a range of other environmental risks. Rising inequalities, mass movement of people and the collapse of social cohesion, on the other hand, are densely tied into the network but sit mostly on the side of consequences rather than causes. Most risks are perceived as both drivers and consequences, and a group of political risks acts as a strong catalyst in both directions.