Emerging Risks in the 21st Century: An Agenda for Action - Softcover

Organisation For Economic Co-operation And Development, OECD

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9264199470 ISBN 13: 9789264199477

Publisher: OECD Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

The 21st Century has so far witnessed a host of large-scale disasters in various parts of the world including: windstorms, flooding, new diseases infesting both humans and animals, terrorist attacks and major disruptions to critical infrastructures. It is not just the nature of major risks that seems to be changing, but also the context in which risks are evolving as well as society's capacity to manage them. This book explores the implications of these developments for economy and society in the 21st century, focussing in particular on the potentially significant increase in the vulnerability of major systems. It concentrates on five large risk clusters: natural disasters, technological accidents, infectious diseases, food safety and terrorism, identifies the challenges facing OECD countries and sets out recommendations for governments and the private sector as to how the management of emerging systemic risks might be improved.

About this title

Product Description

Emerging Risks in the 21st Century This work explores the changing nature of major risks and the implications for systems that provide health services, transportation, energy, food and water, information and telecommunication, and safety and security in the 21st century.

Synopsis

This work explores the changing nature of major risks and the implications for systems that provide health services, transportation, energy, food and water, information and telecommunication and safety and security. There have been a host of large-scale disasters towards the end of the 20th and early 21st centuries: flooding in Europe, the emergence of virulent new diseases, terrorist attacks and major disruptions to critical infrastructures caused by computer viruses or technical failure. The forces shaping these changes are many and varied. Increasingly extreme weather conditions, population density, globalization and scientific innovation are confronting society with unknowable impacts and difficult choices. The book focuses on the increased vulnerability of major systems - any of which could be severely damaged by a single catastrophic event or a chain of events. It concentrates on three large risk clusters: natural disasters, technology-related risks and health-related risks and examines the underlying forces driving changes in these areas and identifies the challenges facing OECD countries in assessing, preparing for and responding to conventional and newly emerging hazards.

It also offers a number of recommendations to governments and the private sector for improving the management of emerging systemic risks.

Edition details

• Publisher: OECD Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9264199470
• ISBN 13: 9789264199477
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292