As geopolitical instability intensifies across the Middle East and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia continues to disrupt global markets European construction is facing a convergence of macroeconomic and security-driven risks that are fundamentally reshaping project delivery and investment decision-making. The economist-led opening presentation will examine how energy price volatility, persistent inflation, supply chain fragmentation and tighter monetary conditions are likely to shape the construction outlook over the next 3–5 years and how these forces transmit into the sector through rising input costs, constrained capital flows, interest rate pressures and increased investment selectivity. It will highlight the growing risk of structurally higher cost bases, mispriced long-term contracts and heightened financial exposure across complex infrastructure and megaprojects.

The panel discussion will then translate these macroeconomic dynamics into operational and risk management realities, focusing on how geopolitical risk and terrorism are compounding uncertainty at a project level. A key theme will be the evolving role risk management and insurance risk transfer including coverage gaps and how underwriting appetite, policy structures, and coverage availability need to adapt to increasingly correlated and complex risk exposures in a persistently volatile global environment.