Grappling with existential risks

Climate change, artificial intelligence and further pandemics are genuine ‘catastrophic impact threats’ facing humanity in the decades ahead. But how do we rise to threats of such existential magnitude? COVID-19 might have shown us a way.

“It is profoundly difficult to grapple with risks whose stakes may include the global collapse of civilisation, or even the extinction of humanity. The pandemic has shattered our illusions of safety and reminded us that despite all the progress made in science and technology, we remain vulnerable to catastrophes that can overturn our entire way of life. These are live possibilities, not mere hypotheses, and our governments will have to confront them.”