After nearly two and a half years, the Swiss ski resort town of Davos is set to host the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting once more, with a host of global leaders, including those from India, expected to discuss the Ukraine crisis, climate change, and a variety of other global issues.
The high-profile annual powwow of the world’s rich and powerful will begin with a welcome reception on Sunday evening and will last until Thursday, May 26. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are among those scheduled to speak.
Over the next six days, three union ministers — Piyush Goyal, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Hardeep Singh Puri — as well as several state leaders, including two chief ministers — Basavraj S Bommai and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy — as well as KT Rama Rao from Telangana, Aditya Thackeray from Maharashtra, and Thangam Thennarasu, will discuss key issues.
More than 50 heads of government or state are expected to attend the annual meeting, which usually takes place in January when this small town is completely covered in snow, but this time it is taking place during the summer. The annual meeting in 2021 could not take place in person, and the one in 2022 had to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced that the theme of the 2022 Annual Meeting will be “history at a turning point.”
The topics to be discussed include government policies and business strategies in the context of a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and geo-economic challenges.
The gathering will take place at a strategic location where public figures and global leaders will meet in person to reconnect, exchange insights, gain new perspectives, and advance solutions.
According to the WEF, the meeting’s overarching goal is to “accelerate progress and make an impact in addressing global challenges and improving the state of the world.”
Following a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the meeting will bring together nearly 2,500 world leaders and experts, all committed to the “Davos Spirit” of improving the state of the world.
The unprecedented global context calls for purpose and resolve against the backdrop of deepening global frictions and fractures and a once-in-a-century pandemic, according to the WEF, and the meeting’s ambition is to rise to these challenges.
The World Economic Forum stated that it has strengthened its impact initiatives over the last two years, which deal with issues ranging from COVID-19 and climate change to education, technology, and energy governance.
These initiatives include the Reskilling Revolution, which aims to provide 1 billion people with better education, skills, and jobs by 2030; an initiative on universal environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and disclosures to measure stakeholder capitalism; and the 1 Trillion Trees initiative, 1t.org, which aims to protect trees and forests and restore the planet’s ecosystems.
The World Economic Forum stated that it has strengthened its impact initiatives over the last two years, which address issues ranging from COVID-19 and climate change to education, technology, and energy governance.
These include the Reskilling Revolution, an initiative to provide 1 billion people with better education, skills, and jobs by 2030; an initiative on universal environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and disclosures to measure stakeholder capitalism; and the 1 Trillion Trees initiative, 1t.org, to protect trees and forests and restore the planet’s ecosystems.
“The fact that nearly 2,500 leaders from politics, business civil society and media come together in person demonstrates the need for a trusted, informal and action-oriented global platform to confront the issues in a crisis-driven world,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
Several priorities and issues that define the current moment and will shape the future are intertwined with the meeting’s theme.
The programme will be organised around six thematic pillars. Fostering global and regional cooperation; restoring stability amid a new era of geopolitical conflict and tension; advancing trade, prosperity, and partnerships; and securing economic recovery and shaping a new era of growth are among them.
These also include how to stabilise the real economy and financial system, as well as how to determine the future of balanced growth, globalisation, and development; and how to build healthy and equitable societies.
The leaders will also discuss how to move beyond the pandemic’s health emergency phase, rebuilding in its wake and strengthening health resilience for future threats, as well as investing in good jobs, living wages, skills, and education, while also redefining stakeholder capitalism for a new context.
Over 1,250 private-sector leaders will attend, as will nearly 100 Global Innovators and Technology Pioneers — the world’s most promising technology and business start-ups and scale-ups.
More than 200 leaders from NGOs, social entrepreneurs, academia, labour organisations, faith-based and religious groups, as well as over 400 media leaders and reporters, will represent civil society.
The Forum’s Global Shaper and Young Global Leader communities will be represented at the Annual Meeting, as will 100 members of the Forum’s Global Shaper and Young Global Leader communities.
Source:IE