In case you needed another reminder that as it stands the planet is heading for total ecological collapse, The World Economic Forum’s annual report found that, for the first time in its 15-year history, the top five risks facing the world are all linked to the climate crisis.
Extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, biodiversity loss and human-made environmental disasters filled the top five places in the list of concerns likely to have a catastrophic impact over the next decade.
Børge Brende, the president of the WEF, said in a statement: “The political landscape is polarised, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning”. He later added that if action on the climate is not taken now “in the next 10 years we will be moving around the deckchairs on the Titanic.”
The new report suggests that record breaking temperatures and high-profile activism from the likes of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion might have finally forced the world’s elite to pay attention to the scale of the crisis. Unprecedented wildfires in Australia are also mounting pressure on governments to take action: the blaze, which currently rages on, has killed at least 24 people, the BBC reports, and more than half a billion animals are estimated to have been killed.
Speaking at a march in Sydney last week, one protester told Dazed: “It’s gotten hotter, our reef is dying in front of our eyes and our wildlife is being wiped out all whilst the government sells off this vibrant, ancient country to foreign interest. It seems obvious, but how much devastation had to occur for there to be a shift?”
Here’s how you can help the devastating wildfires in Australia.