Irina Fan, Patrick Saner, Thomas Holzheu, Fiona Gillespie The world economy’s resilience is being shaken by the COVID-19 crisis as countries deplete their fiscal and monetary reserves. Our latest annual resilience indices show profound shifts in economic and household resilience from the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis is expected to reduce global macroeconomic resilience by close to 20% in 2020 as governments […]
In the news
The looming risk for banks: biodiversity loss
Society faces a critical juncture in one of the defining challenges of our time: the loss of biodiversity. It places severe costs on our economy. Stakeholders require information regarding their exposure to nature-related risks, and how entities are improving resilience across strategic, operational and financial dimensions. But how does biodiversity loss impact financial institutions? Read more
Lessons in contract certainty
Strategic Risk. Contract certainty is always important for businesses, but the coronavirus crisis has shone a light on just how risky it can be when things go wrong. The consequences when contract certainty is not in place can be severe, as Martin Hegelbach, Head Property & Specialty at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, explains. Read more
IIA Unveils New Three Lines Model
Matt Kelly The Institute of Internal Auditors has unveiled a revamped version of its famed Three Lines of Defense model for risk assurance. Perhaps the most notable change: no longer calling it the Three Lines of Defense. Instead, the IIA guide is now officially known as “The Three Lines Model” — a nod to criticism over the years that the word “defense” […]
SONAR 2020: New emerging risk insights
The SONAR report of Swiss Re Institute informs and inspires conversations about emerging risks, so the re/insurance industry can continue to build resilience also in turbulent times. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated new emerging risks and trends, but the current crisis shouldn’t overshadow the need for the world to transition to a more sustainable economy and a low carbon future. […]
ISO and climate change
PRIMO Europe is focused on helping organisations – as the highest form of public risk management – to implement frameworks, methods and techniques to improve on the Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 13 is Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The goals has 5 targets: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural […]
Bruno Latour: ‘This is a global catastrophe that has come from within’
Jonathan Watts The influential French thinker explains the politics of the Gaia principle, the problems of post-truth and how coronavirus gives us a model for spreading ideas. Some say this is the revenge of nature. That is silly. Anyone who has studied the history of medicine knows how a virus can make a society feel completely different. We are on […]
The great balancing act: Managing the coming $30 trillion deficit while restoring economic growth
Rima Assi, David Fine and Kevin Sneader As they continue to grapple with a global pandemic, governments will need to manage deficits and debt-payment plans while finding the best ways to support economic recovery. The dual imperative of our time is to save lives and safeguard livelihoods—and governments around the world are pulling out all the stops to do so. The resulting ramp-up […]
Understanding the Black Swan
Times of Malta in conjunction with Seed is serializing the economic report Agile. Perspectives on Malta’s economy post COVID-19. The report was authored by JP Fabri, Glenn Fenech, partner and senior consultant at Seed, and University academics Professor Vincent Cassar, Dr Stephanie Fabri and Dr Jonathan Spiteri. The full report can be read here. A modern globalised economy is a complex web of […]
Banking imperatives for managing climate risk
More than regulatory pressure is driving banks to manage climate risk. Financing a green agenda is also a commercial imperative—but specialized skills are needed to protect balance sheets. The surface temperature of the Earth has risen at a record pace in recent decades, creating risks to life, ecosystems, and economies. Climate science tells us that further warming is unavoidable over […]
The Pandemic Isn’t a Black Swan but a Portent of a More Fragile Global System
Bernard Avishai Nassim Nicholas Taleb is “irritated,” he told Bloomberg Television on March 31st, whenever the coronavirus pandemic is referred to as a “black swan,” the term he coined for an unpredictable, rare, catastrophic event, in his best-selling 2007 book of that title. “The Black Swan” was meant to explain why, in a networked world, we need to change business practices and […]
How COVID-19 might help us win the fight against climate change
Victoria Crawford The COVID-19 pandemic has elicited a global response unlike anything we’ve seen before. From government and business taking on new roles to respond to the crisis to the complete re-organisation of how we work, travel and socialize, we have witnessed transformational changes that didn’t appear possible just weeks ago. The human costs of the pandemic are horrifying, but […]
Coronavirus outbreak highlights market complacency risk
Robert Armstrong Why was reaction to red flags slow — and can business become more vigilant? Monday morning, February 24, was the moment when a thoroughly somnolent market, after a decade of steadily rising prices and accommodative central bank policy, awoke to the fact that coronavirus would have serious implications for the world economy — and that, at the same time, […]
“All the information was always out there” – “Everywhere you look there are red flags”
Paul Barnett, CEO Strategic Management Forum My two recent posts expressed surprise, that organisations that should know better have called the Coronavirus outbreak a Black Swan Event. The first on March 29th and the second on March 30th. Read more “All the information was always out there, and until February 21, risk managers all over the world were just ignoring it.” […]
China Created a Fail-Safe System to Track Contagions. It Failed.
Steven Lee Myers After SARS, Chinese health officials built an infectious disease reporting system to evade political meddling. But when the coronavirus emerged, so did fears of upsetting Beijing. The alarm system was ready. Scarred by the SARS epidemic that erupted in 2002, China had created an infectious disease reporting system that officials said was world-class: fast, thorough and, just […]
El mundo en hibernación busca salidas
Marc Bassets La triple conmoción por el coronavirus —sanitaria, económica y política— une a la humanidad bajo la misma amenaza pero la divide en las respuestas. El planeta, para un extraterrestre que aterrizase estos días, ofrecería una imagen extraña, entre apacible e inquietante. Más de un tercio de la humanidad está en casa, privada de la libertad de moverse, tan […]
«La crise économique liée au Covid-19: une épreuve de vérité pour les principes qui guident les dirigeants des grandes entreprises»
Alors que l’urgence sanitaire mondiale Covid-19 se poursuit, les retombées économiques se multiplient. La croissance économique mondiale s’est inversée, les entreprises ont commencé à annuler les services qu’elles assurent à leurs clients et des millions de personnes sont au chômage technique ou licenciées. Lire l’article
Three weeks of lockdown in Italy has given us vital perspective – and small comforts
Tobias Jones With scarce resources instilling a spirit of togetherness, Italians have quickly learned to cherish what we once took for granted. We’re about to enter our fourth week of lockdown in Italy, our sixth of home-schooling, and we’ve begun to glimpse minor positives. It’s as if we’re all at that stage of musical chairs when the music has stopped. […]
How our cities can reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic
Richard Florida and Steven Pedigo A ten-point preparedness plan for our communities As the dreaded coronavirus rips across the globe, city after city has locked down, transforming urban business centers, suburban malls, and other public spaces into ghost towns. This is not the first time this has happened—since time immemorial, cities have been epicenters of communicable diseases. Read more
Climate and the $2 Trillion Stimulus Package
Lisa Friedman The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday afternoon on a $2 trillion stimulus package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the provisions are a mixed bag for climate change. The measure does not include $3 billion for the government to buy oil and fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a provision sought by Republicans and President Trump. But it […]
Beyond coronavirus: The path to the next normal
Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal. The coronavirus is not only a health crisis of immense proportion—it’s also an imminent restructuring of the global economic order. Here’s how leaders can begin navigating to what’s next. “For some organizations, near-term survival is the only agenda item. Others are peering through the fog of uncertainty, thinking about how to position themselves once the […]
The seven early lessons of the global coronavirus crisis
Ivan Krastev | NewStatesman These are strange days we are living in. We do not know when the Covid-19 pandemic will end; we do not know how it will end; and, at present, we can only speculate about its long-term political and economic impact. Historians are clear: epidemics are events, not trends. As the historian of medicine Charles Rosenberg has put […]
Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus
Yuval Noah Harari This storm will pass. But the choices we make now could change our lives for years to come. Humankind is now facing a global crisis. Perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take… Read more
Most people see COVID-19 as an economic crisis first, health risk second, survey finds
Laura Oliver The public sees coronavirus as a greater threat to the economy than to their health, new research suggests. Economic rescue measures announced by governments do not appear to be calming concern. The Ipsos poll of 10,000 adults in 12 countries, conducted 12-14 March, suggests rising anxiety about personal financial exposure, including employment. The perception of threat to health increases […]