Healix works with organisations to proactively mitigate risks before they happen and expertly manage them when they do, protecting people, operations and assets wherever they are. Looking forward to the year ahead, whether your focus is creating a resilient, compliant or reputable organisation, or delivering on growth and opportunity, Healix can extend and maximise capability while helping companies gain control over financial exposure and reduce the potential for operational disruption.

European energy crisis

The unprecedented need for energy diversification exacerbated by the Ukraine-Russia conflict has resulted in an acute energy emergency. Businesses will be exposed to the financial risks associated with the energy crisis, as spiraling operating costs, a suppressed economy and market fluctuations will pose additional challenges throughout 2023.

Political polarisation

Political polarisation has been a feature of numerous political systems and elections throughout 2022 – a trend expected to continue into 2023. Although not inherently a new issue, with political divisions accelerating and intensifying globally for numerous years, several stable political systems have been impacted by polarisation in 2022.

Cyber risk

Cyber security attacks are constantly evolving, increasing in both frequency and sophistication. Robust cyber security measures are vital to ensure our personal data, finance sand information is protected from exploitation.

Global extremism

Extremism trends throughout 2022 and leading into 2023 have been notable due to the diversification of threats, particularly in the West. The traditional focus for the drivers of terrorist activity has been on jihadist and far-right motivations, but this lens has become too narrow. Groups and actors have become more decentralised, while beliefs are departing further from established ideological norms.

Climate change

As climate change and extreme weather continue to drive significant security and operational disruption, businesses need to prepare for that trend to continue in 2023. Looking ahead, security managers should ensure that climate risk assessments are conducted to determine the level of exposure to natural disasters. Suitable mitigation measures should be adopted, alongside a review of safety procedures tasked with protecting personnel.

Regional risks

Healix’s Risk Outlook 2023 also offers insights into specific regions, as all the risks listed above will affect countries and continents in different ways. Some brief examples show that for Africa, political instability will drive growing insecurity in the Sahel region; Ethiopia’s security environment will likely continue to deteriorate, and the Nigerian general election, set for February, is already prompting widespread protests.

Protests are also a growing risk in the Americas, where there have been significant political developments across Central and South America. In the Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, inter-state conflict and terrorism is of increasing concern to risk managers. Of course, in Europe and the CIS, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains the preeminent issue dominating security. Political tension across the Middle East continues to smoulder, with the focus on protests in Iran. Healix also noted that 2022 marked the most violent year of disputes between Israel and Palestine since 2015.

Recommendations for Risk Managers

Healix’s report states: “Cyber, medical and climate risks are all escalating issues which, alongside more traditional concerns such as security and operational risk, need to be incorporated into risk management processes. The risks outlined above should, in the majority of cases, not preclude travel, but companies should proactively monitor and inform personnel on any potential avenues of risk they could encounter.”

For further insights on steps Risk Managers should be taking, and for more detail on the risks to prepare for in 2023, download the Healix Risk Outlook Report 2023