Independence and host safeguards
A forum is only useful if no participant, host or sponsor can capture it. The Global Risks Forum (GRF) protects its independence with written rules: hosting is not ownership, sponsorship is not authority, participation is not appointment, and status follows records. No member, host or sponsor can buy a finding, an agenda item, an appointment or the removal of a stated limitation. This page explains how those rules apply to hosts, sponsors and supporters, and how anyone can raise a concern about capture.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Risks Forum (GRF)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04PrinciplesFour rules that apply to every arrangement
- 05CaptureHow forums get captured, and the controls against it
- 06SafeguardsWhat every hosting or support agreement is designed to include
- 07ConflictsInterests are declared before decisions
GRF · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Independence and host safeguards at GRF are the written rules that stop any participant, host or sponsor from capturing the Forum: hosting is not ownership, sponsorship is not authority, participation is not appointment and status follows records. Interests are declared before decisions, and anyone can raise a concern about capture.
Mandate to authority.
Fig.How the platform is governed, from its mandate to the authorities who decide. Design, not a record.
Jurisdictions in the Horn of Africa.
The jurisdictions that hold authority over this question: countries, their first-level divisions and capitals, shown for the Horn of Africa as an example geography for this subject.
Four rules that apply to every arrangement.
Hosting is not ownership
A host provides a venue or operational support and gains no ownership of the programme, its records or its results.
Sponsorship is not authority
Support is disclosed and separated from the agenda, the selection of participants and every finding.
Participation is not appointment
Taking part confers no endorsement, appointment or share in governance power.
Status follows records: nothing is described as confirmed until a record shows it.
How forums get captured, and the controls against it.
| Route to capture | Control |
|---|---|
| Funding concentration | Limits on any one source's share of a programme; disclosure |
| Agenda setting by hosts | Questions set through published intake, not by hosts |
| Revolving doors | Cooling-off rules for staff moving to and from participants |
| Selective publication | Records published by default with consent, not by choice of GRF |
The OECD's work on policy capture describes the same routes for public decision-making; the controls are adapted from it.
What every hosting or support agreement is designed to include.
| Safeguard | In practice |
|---|---|
| No sponsor approval | Sponsors cannot approve publications, change evidence or choose participants |
| No ownership through funding | Funding grants no ownership of the programme, its records or results |
| No bought allocations | Neither hosting nor sponsorship secures mission admission or a computing allocation |
| Disclosure | Support is disclosed, and a use-of-resources report is designed into contribution agreements |
| Permission to name | Hosts and sponsors are named only with written permission and a current record |
| Readiness first | No event is presented as confirmed before a host's authority and readiness are evidenced |
Interests are declared before decisions.
Council members, reviewers, hosts and sponsors declare relevant interests before taking part. A person with a declared conflict does not decide or sign the matter it concerns. GRF itself does not regulate, finance, procure, certify, underwrite, rate or invest, so it has no such power to trade.
Anyone can raise a concern about capture.
No membership, account or payment is needed. Write to integrity@globalriskforum.com. Complaints are designed to be reviewed by someone not responsible for the contested decision, and the acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step. The detailed rules are on Institutional independence and Sponsorship policies. GRA's equivalent rules are on GRA conflicts, sponsors and neutrality.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sponsor neutrality | The principle that a campaign's funder does not control its findings, claims or editorial decisions. |
| Regulatory capture | The situation in which a regulator comes to serve the interests of those it regulates rather than the public. |
| Declaration of interests | A written statement in which an expert or participant discloses financial, professional and personal interests that could constitute a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest, so that others can judge and manage it; WHO uses this procedure for its experts. |
| Host | An institution that provides a venue, logistics or support for a programme session; hosting confers no authority over the programme's agenda, findings or records. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
Can a sponsor see results before publication?
Does a host country gain influence over Nexus Universe?
How do I propose support or hosting?
What happens if a safeguard is breached?
Around GRF.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.