IRIA News

The Risk of global recession, the Russia-Ukraine war, economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of technological advancement, and climate change efforts remained the most discussed topics among the participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 in Davos, Switzerland.

World’s top leaders from politics, business, civil society, media, arts, and academia came together in the Swiss mountain village of Davos from May 22 to May 26, as the World Economic Forum hosted its first in-person annual meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic started two years ago.

The summit had over 450 sessions, which brought together around 2,500 leaders and experts from around the world, including 300 government leaders and 50 heads of state.

To resonate with the ongoing situation of post-pandemic economic recovery and global security threats, the theme of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 was ‘Working together, Restoring trust’.

The five-day congregation of the rich and powerful from across the world ended on May 26, with many of the participants leaving with a hope of a better, peaceful and prosperous world in the future.

Russia-Ukraine War

Subjects related to the Russia-Ukraine war dominated the meeting at Davos. Several of the speakers and participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022, either directly or indirectly, spoke about the ongoing war in Europe. One of the most prominent highlights of the summit was the video link address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy delivered a special address on the opening morning of Davos 2022, setting the agenda for leaders to come together and help Ukraine. Zelenskyy stated that “the word ‘turning point’ has become more than just a rhetorical figure of speech”, and urged the “values must matter”.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “maximum” sanctions and a “complete withdrawal from the Russian market”, listing just some of the sanctions he believes should be imposed upon Russia for its crimes against Ukraine and its people. He warned, “If the values of freedom are lost, everyone loses”.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war during his speech where he stated that the 30-member military alliance has not put its troops into Ukraine, however, a Russian attack “on one NATO ally will trigger the full response from the whole alliance.” He further added, “This is deterrence. The purpose is not to provoke conflict but to prevent conflict and preserve peace.”

The ‘Special Dialogue on Ukraine’ session brought together 70 global CEOs alongside the Prime Minister of Ukraine, the President of the European Commission, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine at Davos in person, alongside other dignitaries. The meeting was focused to achieve concrete ways through which these companies could help Ukraine through the ongoing crisis.

The majority of leaders stressed upon the importance of a quick and peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine war however, due to the lack of representation of the Russian because of the denial of participation at Davos 2022, no concrete conclusion was reached regarding the peace efforts.

Climate Change

Another prominent theme that repeatedly made its way into the discussions at Davos 2022 was climate change and the efforts to contain it. The U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry unveiled a lucrative $8.5 trillion commercial market and stated that more than 50 companies have joined the First Movers Coalition which aims to decarbonize the heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors responsible for 30% of global emissions.

He also stated that Denmark, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have joined the U.S. as government partners to create early markets for clean technologies through policy measures and private sector engagement.

Over the past decade, China has already regrown 70 million hectares of forest cover.

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— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 26, 2022

China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, Xie Zhenhua, announced his country’s commitment to plant and conserve 70 billion trees by 2030, while significant commitments were made by Indian companies towards clean energy and water conservation.

Global Food Security

Food security is one of the biggest and most consistent threats to the well-being of many developing countries. The war in Ukraine combined with post-pandemic economic stagnation as well as climate change and global warming, all these factors are intensifying the already severe threat.

Leaders at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 said that the global food crisis and exacerbated food insecurity worldwide can be solved by addressing the issues related to the precarious supply chains, increased fertilizer prices, and blocked grain exports.

Cryptocurrency

Another topic that remained a major theme during Davos 2022 was the unprecedented rise of Cryptocurrency, its benefits, and, more importantly, the threats that it poses to disrupt the conventional global economic setup.

IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva cautioned against confusing crypto products with currencies and said anything not backed by a sovereign guarantee can be an asset class but not a currency, as she asserted that Bitcoin cannot be ‘money’ just because it has got ‘coin’ in its name.

Sheila Warren, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), had a different and ambitious view regarding Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. She said, “The industry is at an inflection point. We have evidence that shows the value of blockchain-backed systems, including those that rely on crypto.” CCI is a global alliance of crypto industry leaders with a mission to demonstrate crypto’s promising future.

The Western political leadership was focused on the war in Ukraine, the business heads were eagerly scouting options for diversifying their trade and investments while activists were advocating for change, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 ended with several solutions yet many unanswered questions passed on to the table of discussion for the next event which is scheduled for January 2023.