ANNAPOLIS, MD. - WorldAware, a global leader in risk management solutions, releases its annual providing expert insight and analysis around geopolitical, environmental and other threat areas for 2020. The report breaks down key global threats for businesses and organizations seeking to protect their people and operations, no matter their location or circumstance.
“For the past 20 years, WorldAware has been leading the way through advanced intelligence and technology to empower organizations to make strategic, informed decisions to keep their people safe and ensure business continuity,” says Bruce McIndoe, President and Founder of WorldAware. “We’ve applied our expert analysis to this year’s most impactful events to forecast trends and help organizations around the world proactively mitigate risk and avoid potential threats in 2020.”
The report is compiled by members of WorldAware’s team of more than 130 intelligence experts based across the company’s offices in Annapolis, Md., Cape Town, London and Singapore. Drawing from more than 21,000 sources in 25 different languages, the team monitors and analyzes risks across intelligence categories including health, kidnapping, terrorism, environment, transportation and geopolitics throughout geographic regions including the Americas, Europe/CIS, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Asia and Africa. The 2020 forecast highlights the most pressing global trends in these categories and regions.
Key global threats expected to impact organizations and travelers in 2020 include:
- Boeing 737 MAX may not be safe despite return to service. Despite efforts to make improvements, WorldAware remains concerned about the aircraft’s safety as the safeguards that were designed to detect and eliminate design flaws clearly failed in the design and certification of the 737 MAX. WorldAware, therefore, recommends travelers consider avoid flying on the 737 MAX for one year after it returns to service. Additionally, companies should consider adjusting corporate travel policies to accommodate travelers concerned with the 737 MAX’s safety.
- U.S.-China contention will persist, regardless of trade war outcomes - with risk implications for Hong Kong and the international community. Continuing competition between the two powers will remain the focal point of regional geopolitics and this contention will remain the primary driving force alerting the economic, security and political conditions throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Many foreign corporations operating in China will be exposed to political threats arising from this trend. The contention between the world's largest economies will impact a variety of key fronts, both influencing and being influenced by developments. Notably, this will further tensions in the midst of ongoing unrest in Hong Kong. We are also likely to see implications in Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
- Weather and climate will continue to have a significant impact on business continuity. Natural disasters including wildfires and hurricanes can continue to cause disruptions to shipping processes or damages to infrastructure. As climate change continues to progress, climate activism will become more frequent, potentially impacting businesses. Industries including oil, gas, coal, beef and palm oil can expect to be frequently targeted by global climate strikes.
- The proliferation of “light kidnapping” in Latin America will persist, posing additional threats to travelers in the region. Latin America has a particularly high incidence of express kidnapping, where sustained economic challenges, high levels of corruption and political instability continue to fuel crime. In countries where government-led interventions aimed at stemming the threat of crime and traditional kidnappings are ongoing, criminal actors have shifted to perpetrating relatively less risky express and light kidnappings to reduce their risk of capture.
Other notable assessments in the report include a look at continued political protests in Latin America, rising tensions in the Middle East, Brexit’s impact on public activism and elections in Africa that could destabilize areas in the region.
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