The risks associated with climate variability and change, as well as other environmental stressors, are becoming more difficult to monitor and manage. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, a local drought or flood has the potential to disrupt global supply chains, contribute to the movement of people within or across borders, or lead to price shocks of staple food crops. Climate change and globalization expose society to a new set of complex and systemic risks, in which the "failure of a single entity or cluster of entities can cause a cascading failure, which could potentially bankrupt or bring down the entire system or market." The trigger for a systemic risk can happen in multiple places, and the cascading effects can be unpredictable. Current models and approaches rarely provide warning for, or outline the consequences of, systemic risks.
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- Copyright 2017 by Skoll Global Threats Fund. All rights reserved.