The World Economic Forum returns to Davos after a pandemic break
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Davos — the hub of an annual elite gathering in the Swiss Alps — is back, more than two years after the coronavirus pandemic kept its business gurus, political leaders and high-minded activists at bay. There is no shortage of pressing issues for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum to address.
With their lofty ambitions to help improve the state of the world, forum organizers have their work to do: There are rising food and fuel prices, Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change, drought and food shortages in Africa, yawning inequality between the rich and poor and autocratic regimes gaining ground in some places – on top of signs that the pandemic is far from over.
It’s difficult to predict whether the high-level discussions will result in significant announcements that bring progress to the world’s most pressing challenges.
The war in Ukraine will be a key issue. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak via video from Kyiv on Monday’s opening day, while the country’s foreign minister and a sizeable delegation of other top Ukrainian officials will be present. They will be joined this week by heads of state such as Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US Climate Ambassador John Kerry, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“There is no business as usual,” the forum’s president Borge Brende told The Associated Press, saying Ukraine was not the only concern. “It’s also climate change. It is also because global growth is slowing and we must avoid this very weak recovery ending in a new recession because we have very limited ammunition to fight a new recession.”
“A new recession will lead to more unemployment and more poverty,” he added. “There’s so much at stake.”
President Vladimir Putin’s war means Russian business leaders and politicians have not been invited to Davos this year. There will be no traditional social celebrations of the “House of Russia” with caviar and vodka spreads for the elite participants of the evening entertainment.
Instead, critics – including notably Ukrainian tycoon Victor Pinchuk and the country’s foreign ministry – have seized on certain symbolism and vowed to voice their disgust shared by many around the world.
“Russia is not represented in Davos this year, but its crimes will not go unnoticed. The ‘Russian War Crimes House’ will be held in the former Russia House,” organizers of the renamed venue said in a press release.
The venue, which opens on Monday, will feature photos of crimes and atrocities accused by Russian forces. Some victims will speak out – including Anatoliy Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, a city near Kyiv where images of civilians being killed have sparked outrage around the world.
“It’s important to understand what’s really happening in Ukraine,” said Bjorn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre, which is helping to organize the exhibition. “Part of this exhibition is also to give a human face back to the people who became victims of these Russian war crimes.”
Brende, the forum’s president, says numerous CEOs and other business leaders will consider how the private sector can support Ukraine “in a situation where Russia is breaking international law, international humanitarian law and not adhering to the UN Charter.” .
Not everyone believes that Davos is the place where solutions can be found.
A few dozen anti-capitalist protesters marching behind a “Smash WEF” banner clashed with police in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, on Friday, a sign of smoldering antagonism against business elites whom they accuse of putting profits before people . Police used rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse the crowd at what was deemed an unauthorized gathering.
While Ukraine will draw attention on the first day of the meeting, climate and environmental issues will be a recurring, constant theme as the forum looks at both future and current challenges.
A third of the approximately 270 panel discussions leading up to Thursday’s finale will focus on climate change or its impacts, with extreme weather conditions, efforts towards “net zero” emissions and the search for new, cleaner energy sources on the agenda.
Forum managers – who have been criticized for hosting wealthy executives who sometimes fly in on emission-spitting corporate jets – have increasingly tried to do their part and inoculated themselves against accusations of hypocrisy: they say they have compensated 100% over the past five years of CO2 emissions from the organization’s activities by supporting environmental projects.
Experts say offsets can be problematic because there’s no guarantee they’ll reduce emissions.