As the world confronts overlapping crises, from accelerating climate change to the unchecked spread of misinformation, global risks are increasingly interconnected, compounding one another in ways that could overwhelm current institutions and systems.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, shows the top 28 most important global risk as outlined in the United Nations Global Risk Report 2024.

Risk importance combines the likelihood and severity of a risk, with top risks seen as most likely to occur with severe impacts if or when they manifest.

Rankings are based on a survey of 1,100 stakeholders across 136 countries which includes representatives of government, industry, civil society, and academia.

Below, we show the top 28 most important global risks and their importance scores, according to the United Nations.

RankRiskImportance ScoreCategory1Climate Change Inaction37.2Environmental2Large-Scale Pollution36.0Environmental3Mis- and Disinformation35.4Political4Natural Hazard Risks35.0Environmental5Rise in Inequalities34.7Societal6Biodiversity Decline34.6Environmental7Geopolitical Tensions34.5Political8Natural Resource Shortages34.3Environmental9Mass Movement of People33.2Societal10Large-Scale War32.6Political11Biorisks32.3Societal12New Pandemic32.1Societal13Rule of Law Collapse32.0Political14Cybersecurity Breakdown31.7Technological15Global Financial Crisis31.6Economic16Weapons of Mass Destruction31.1Political17AI and Frontier Tech31.0Technological18Proliferation of Non-State Actors30.8Societal19Tech-Driven Power Concentration30.8Technological20Social Cohesion Collapse30.4Societal21Widespread Debt Crisis30.2Economic22Economic Fragmentation29.1Economic23State Sovereignty Erosion28.5Political24Global Economic Stagnation27.9Economic25Supply Chain Collapse27.8Economic26Geoengineering Disasters27.5Technological27Multilateral Institution Collapse26.3Political28Space-Based Event23.4Environmental

Across all regions, environmental risks emerged as the highest priority, with climate change inaction and large-scale pollution both seen as highly likely and highly severe.

Climate change inaction was the most important risk overall, ranking as the most pressing issue in three of the seven regions.

In total, 84% of respondents said mis- and disinformation is already occurring, making it the most immediate risk today, according to the UN.

Mis- and disinformation also ranked as the top risk in the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report.

While environmental concerns were top of mind for all regions, other perceptions varied by region. For example, in North Africa and Asia, concerns about cybersecurity breakdowns and artificial intelligence (AI) were among the top 10 risks, unlike in other regions.

Cybersecurity breakdowns were among the least prepared-for risks, with a preparedness score of just 3.9 out of 7. The only risk the world is less prepared for is a potential space-based event.

To learn more about risks the world is facing in the near and long term, check out this graphic that visualizes the top global risks, as ranked by the World Economic Forum.