Many risk issues are complex, uncertain, or even ambiguous. IRGC’s mission includes facilitating a better understanding of risks and of their scientific, political, social, and economic contexts, and providing practical assistance to decision-makers responsible for managing them.
Governance refers to the actions, processes, traditions and institutions by which authority is exercised and decisions are taken and implemented. Risk governance applies the principles of good governance to the identification, assessment, management and communication of risks in a broad sense. It incorporates such criteria as accountability, participation and transparency within the procedures and structures by which risk-related decisions are made and implemented. Risk governance includes the totality of actors, rules, conventions, processes and mechanisms and is concerned with how relevant risk information is collected, analysed and communicated, and how management decisions are taken. Global risks are not confined to national borders; they cannot be managed through the actions of a single sector. The governance of global, systemic risks requires cohesion between countries and the inclusion within the process of government, industry, academia and civil society.
Risk accompanies change. It is ubiquitous and a permanent and important part of life. The willingness and capacity to take and accept risk is crucial for achieving economic development and introducing new technologies. Many risks, and in particular those arising from emerging technologies, are accompanied by potential benefits and opportunities. Amongst IRGC’s concerns is that important opportunities flowing from new technologies and innovations are not foregone or mismanaged due to inadequate risk governance, including misinformation and poor communications. When these technologies have the capacity to alleviate major global concerns, a failure to adopt them has potentially catastrophic consequences. The challenge of better risk governance lies here: to enable societies to benefit from change while minimizing the negative consequences of the associated risks.
Risk governance is both a concept and a tool. It addresses questions such as the understanding of the secondary impacts of a risk and of how it is managed, the development of resilience and the capacity of organisations and people to face unavoidable risks, the empowerment of those responsible for making and implementing decisions, the role of science and technology in policymaking, the extent to which a precautionary approach should be used to address uncertainty and ambiguity and the balancing of an inclusive approach to decision-making with the need to reach a decision.
More information on IRGC’s work on:
Risk governance
Risk governance deficits
Emerging risks