Climate Change is the Biggest Threat Facing the World in 2016

There are a number of threats facing the world today but the globe's biggest threat is not nuclear proliferation, ISIS, or the Zika virus, the biggest threat facing the world in 2016 is climate change. According to a poll of 750 experts conducted prior to the World Economic Forum a climate related catastrophe is considered to be the biggest threat facing the global economy in 2016.

This is the first time in more than a decade of Global Risk reports that climate change is ranked as the leading threat to the world. While climate change impacts are considered to be the biggest threat, the most likely threat in 2016 is large scale involuntary migration followed by extreme weather events, and climate change.

As quoted by The Guardian, John Drzik, president of Marsh Global Risk and Specialties.

"This is widening the backdrop of uncertainty against which international firms will increasingly be forced to make their strategic decisions. The need for business leaders to consider the implications of these risks on their firm’s footprint, reputation and supply chain has never been more pressing."

The business community knows that climate change is a very real threat and in response they are adopting sustainability in unprecendented numbers. Costs still constitutes a barrier to entry for less affluent companies that want to adopt utility-scale renewables. However, Wall Street banks and institutional investors are increasingly providing clean energy finance in response to demand stemming from efforts to address these threats.