Climate risks top list of risk manager worries

Climate risks, disruptive technology and geopolitical instability are what worry risk managers most, according to a joint survey from the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Society of Actuaries. 

The 18th Annual Emerging Risk Survey is an online questionnaire prompting risk managers to rank current and emerging risks. It uses four categories to measure risks: top current risk, the leading five emerging risks, overall emerging risk and emerging risk combinations. 

Climate change has been on top of the emerging risk lists since 2021. In the latest survey, which was conducted in November 2024, it shares the top spot with geopolitical instability. 

“The context of 2024 is of continued trends of severe storms and hail, heat waves and drought, a weakened but continuing respiratory infection pandemic, and geopolitical concerns within and between countries,” the report states. “AI is trumpeted to revolutionize business unless the technology facilitates a doomsday scenario.” 

Respondents were asked to choose their top worries from 23 risks. The survey also presented questions about practices related to enterprise risk management, AI, staffing challenges, and other topics. 

Climate change reclaimed the top spot in this survey, which is shared with worries over wars, followed by disruptive technology as the third biggest concern. Cyber/network and demographic shift rounded out the top five risks.