What is a systemic risk?

Mankind must be prepared to reconsider its existence and its entire system of production and consumption

By a global systemic risk is meant a problem or event that can have domino effects in society with serious consequences for the world population, either directly through an unusual event or indirectly by reaching a "tipping point". System-wide collapses can occur even if individual components of the system appear robust. When analyzing system risks, it is easy to be deceived by linear, experience-based or intuitive explanations. Systemic risks are complex due to several causal relationships, such as negative and positive feedback loops, time offsets, factor variations, and so on. Uncertainty is high due to, for example, measurement errors, statistical variation, lack of knowledge and uncertainty. The interpretation is subjective and several consequences, caused by political, social and economic actors, can cause unpredictable consequences.