Interdisciplinary approaches of OECD to risk governance: Overview of the OECD international futures project on emerging systemic risks

New and terrifying events are happening as we take our first steps into the 21st century. The world's population has always been faced with 'risk - but the difference today is that risks can now reach magnitudes of harm that hadn't been imagined in modern times. They have the potential for inflicting devastating damage on the vital systems and infrastructures on which our society depends. Harmful events may have put policy makers and the public 'on the alert', but that is not the same thing as being equipped to prevent those risks or mitigate the damage they cause. There is worrying evidence that countries are simply not adequately prepared. The International Futures Programme, which was created in 1990 and which reports directly to the OECD Secretary-General, has been analysing the many pressing issues connected with risk management of OECD countries. In 1999/2000 the IFP conceived and designed a two-year risk project, the first cross-sectoral study of its kind at the OECD. The project resulted in a groundbreaking publication, Emerging Risks in the 21st Century - An Agenda for Action. The value of the Report's analysis lies in the fact that the approaches are forward-looking, cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary. (orig.)