Piracy, cyber security and climate change are the most serious threats to business and society, heard a New York conference
Piracy, cyber security and climate change were highlighted as the three biggest risks facing business and society in the 21st Century, according to speakers at a joint conference held by Lloyd’s and NATO in New York.
Piracy
Vice Admiral Maurizio Gemignani of NATO said a new approach was being deployed to combat the threat of piracy. “This is called ‘Capacity Building’. Assisting the regional States to build their own capacity to combat piracy is of great importance in the long run. It is a long process. And it can only be done as a concerted effort of all the actors in the area. It starts with getting to know each other. A typical example for Capacity Building is the provision of training to local authorities”
Cybersecurity
Mike Leibowitz of New York University and Richard Boscovich of Microsoft said that businesses can be exposed to cybersecurity threats in numerous.
Boscovich pointed out that anything that compromises Microsoft’s systems is taken seriously.
Climate
Pen Hadow, polar explorer and leader of the recent Catlin Arctic Survey, shared the scientific observations from his recent survey of Arctic sea ice. He suggested that sea ice could cease to be an all-year-round feature within as little as a decade, which will have huge impacts on our environment, such as altering global weather systems and rising sea levels.
Professor Lawson Brigham of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks discussed the potential opportunities and threats that would present themselves as a result of the disappearance of Arctic sea ice from the extraction of natural resources, new shipping routes and tourism.
