WEF PRESIDENT BORGE BRENDE: CLIMATE FIRES ARE BURNING!

Business chiefs head into their first global gathering of 2020 with a warning that a litany of environmental disasters risks reshaping the world over the next decade, according to a survey Wednesday.

A week before its annual conclave in Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said the survey was a call to arms as wildfires rage in Australia and governments struggle to articulate collective action on climate change.

"The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning," WEF President Borge Brende said.

"This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks," he added.

In recent years, climate change and its likely consequences have emerged as top concerns shadowing the Davos meeting, along with economic risks.

This time, the organization's "Global Risks Perception Survey" found the top five categories of concern for the next 10 years were all environmental – topped by extreme weather events and failure of governments and businesses to forestall climate change.

According to the 10-year outlook, the top 10 long-term risks that are expected to be globally faced are more likely environmental, namely those of "extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disaster, biodiversity loss and human-made environmental disasters," while there are a few technological, societal, geopolitical and economic causes. Data fraud or theft along with cyberattacks are the top two technological risks that the world would face in the long-term.

Cyberattacks are expected to increase this year, the report said, "all while citizens protest the political and economic conditions in their countries and voice concerns about systems that exacerbate inequality." Collective and an immediate action is needed to prevent this, it said.