In a recent blog for AuditBoard, I observed that the world has seemingly entered “a state of persistent crisis, with no sense of how we’ll escape.” Some call it a “permacrisis,” an “extended period of instability and insecurity.” For internal auditors and risk managers, a permacrisis means we can no longer simply assess and monitor the clear-and-present risks facing our organizations. We must constantly scan the horizon for risks that seem to emerge out of thin air.
Such emerging risks are potential threats or challenges that may be evolving or are apparent but not yet fully materialized or widely recognized. They have the potential to impact businesses, industries, governments, and society as a whole. As the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) noted in the report An Introduction to Emerging Risks and How to Identify Them:
“Emerging risks may arise and evolve quickly, unexpectedly, or both. The emerging risk may never happen at all. Emerging risks may have a massive economic loss potential at a macro level for society and subsequently may impact charities (and other organizations) directly or indirectly. . . .