The Emergence of Risks: Contributing Factors

Abstract

With this report, International Risk Governance Council (IRGC) aims to raise awareness among professionals about the fact that risks emerge from a common 'fertile ground', that is cultivated by twelve generic 'contributing factors'. IRGC defines and illustrates these factors in this report. The illustrations, which are drawn from real-world experience, trace how the contributing factors led new risks to emerge or be amplified at their early stages. For example, rising rates of obesity are offered as an illustration of an emerging risk that results from changing social dynamics and economic forces.