Experts Warn Climate Change Is A Huge Global Risk, But Trump Continues to Roll Back Climate Policies

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As the Trump administration continues to roll back climate policies, a new report from the World Economic Forum shows the rest of the world remains deeply concerned about environmental risks. Climate-related threats like especially extreme weather and irreversible damage to Earth’s systems are now among the top global risks, according to over 900 experts surveyed for the WEF’s 2025 Global Risks Report.

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While the top-cited risk is state-based armed conflict – with 23% of respondents choosing the issue as the most likely cause of a material global crisis, likely due in part to growing concerns over the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan – environmental risks are close behind.

Extreme weather events, driven by fossil fuel emissions and planetary warming, ranked as the second most-cited concern, while critical change to Earth systems – a category that includes tipping points in ice sheet melt, ocean currents, and climate feedback loops – ranked seventh. While on a national level extreme weather events were cited as a top-five concern for 25 countries in 2024, in the 2025 report 31 countries chose extreme weather events.

These climate-related risks outpaced a long list of potential disasters, including economic collapse, terrorism, and nuclear weapons. Yet many of them remain underappreciated in policymaking, particularly in countries where environmental action is being reversed or stalled. A closer look at the data reveals the issues experts are most worried about causing a global crisis.

To determine the risks experts are most worried about causing a global crisis, Climate Crisis 247 reviewed data from the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Risks Report. Risks were ranked based on the percentage of experts who selected it as most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale in 2025.

25. Intrastate violence

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

24. Infectious diseases

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

23. Debt

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

22. Disruptions to critical infrastructure

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

21. Biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or hazards

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

20. Decline in health and well-being

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

19. Asset bubble burst

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

18. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

17. Concentration of strategic resources and technologies

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

16. Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 1%

15. Crime and illicit economic activity

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

14. Cyber espionage and warfare

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

13. Adverse outcomes of AI technologies

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

12. Natural resources shortages

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

11. Involuntary migration or displacement

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

10. Inequality

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

9. Erosion of human rights and/or civic freedoms

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 2%

8. Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 3%

7. Critical change to Earth systems

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 4%

6. Economic downturn

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 5%

5. Societal polarization

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 6%

4. Misinformation and disinformation

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 7%

3. Geoeconomic confrontation

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 8%

2. Extreme weather events

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 14%

1. State-based armed conflict

• Experts who believe risk is most likely to cause global crisis in 2025: 23%

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