This article is dedicated to the readers who are asking themselves, what is the purpose of the World Economic Forum? Why do world leaders, economists, CEOs and Big Tech players spend so much money, produce such a carbon footprint, engage so many people and media press to gather in the Swiss Alps and discuss most trending matters?
Historic Context: What is the World Economic Forum and Where is Davos?
In 1971, a Swiss engineer and economist, Professor Klaus Schwab, left the turbine construction company Escher Wyss and organised a two-week event called the “European Management Symposium” in Davos. The distinctive feature of this format of dialogue was its inclusion of stakeholders other than the shareholders.
Amongst the 450 participants were corporate managers, representatives of the European Commission and U.S academics. On this occasion, Schwab coined his ‘stakeholder theory’, which promotes growth strategies that are inclusive of the interests of customers, suppliers and employees.
In the next three decades, the management forum expanded in scope and geography to transform into what we know today as the World Economic Forum, discussing issues ranging from international conflict mediation to climate-related risk mitigation.
Since 1975, WEF expanded globally, following the first oil crisis of 1973, triggered by the Saudi-led OPEC oil embargo on crude exports to the U.S, the war in Vietnam and the violent territorial dispute between Iran and Iraq of the year 1975. In 1985, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Davos brought together parliamentarians and business leaders from East and West Germany to discuss initiatives that led to the approval of a monetary stabilisation programme for the German Democratic Republic.
Between 1986 and 1988, WEF also acted as a platform for dialogue for Turgut Özal and Andreas Papandreou, the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey, which led to the de-escalation of tensions over aerial and maritime borders, culminating in the signing of the Davos Declaration.
Amongst other highlights, The World Economic Forum also sparked discussions of the idea to set up a format in which developed and developing countries could cooperate, which eventually led to the establishment of the G-20. Since 2005, the WEF organisation also publishes annual Global Risk Reports, outlining the current major threats to the global economy and the issues to be put on top of the agenda. The main modern themes are now fair labor, climate change mitigation, environmental activism, world hunger and famine, as well as tech innovations.
WEF Davos 2022: Ukraine and COVID-19
After a two-year hiatus due to the lockdowns and Covid-19 related restrictions, the 2022 edition highlighted the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the global consequences of the COVID-19 and the advancements of the Metaverse. As a bonus, the San Francisco and Los Angeles delegation brought with them Shamans from the Burning Man festival, to talk about magic mushrooms. Although the topic of psychedelics had been raised in 2019, it is the first time that world leaders actually got to live the experience and the meditative sessions.
Ukraine addresses the World
Amongst the most anticipated acts was the address of the President of Ukraine.
In his speech, Zelenskiy called for stronger economic sanctions against Russia and greater financial support to Ukraine to procure its army with cutting edge military equipment and technology to win the war. The Ukrainian President urged to set a precedent for any other government in the future that intends to conduct such military operations on foreign sovereign territory.
Zelenskiy also denounced the countries who continue to buy Russia’s crude oil and Ukrainian grain, which is reportedly being seized by the Russian military and sold abroad for personal profit.
Another request of Ukraine is the creation of a diplomatic corridor across the Black Sea ports to maintain agricultural exports. While there is a lot of media attention to the solidarity of major economies and conglomerates against Russia, in numbers, Ukraine’s economy is shrinking by 45% as a consequence of the war, while the sanctions slowed Russia’s economy only by 11%.
Other Ukraine related debates also addressed the necessity to mitigate the costs of renouncing to imports of Russian energy and thus rising energy prices, as well as the need to use the model of Ukrainian migrant reception in Europe as a precedent for any future war-induced displacement.
Living in the Post COVID-19: What Now and How to Prevent the Next Pandemic?
The global chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is still fresh in people’s minds and its socio-economic consequences still affect all industries, from production to transportation and sales. To this effect, AstraZeneca’s Executive Vice-President of Oncology, Dave Fredrickson, and Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla also addressed the Davos audience and talked about how they are preparing for any future pandemic, ensuring more efficient manufacturing, roll out and country to country distribution.
Indeed, the main issues in achieving higher vaccination rates this time were related to availability and storage. For instance, the vaccination rate in the European Union is 98.2% by 2022, compared to 35.92% in Africa. In South Korea, only 34.9% received at least one dose, making it the lowest rate amongst the G-20 countries, whilst its vaccination interest rate is amongst the highest, being 87%.
The low figures in the East Asian country and the African continent were mainly due to lack of availability of vaccines and ill storage conditions, in the case of African states.
The vials need to be stored in special circumstances and under a certain temperature, and, once opened, they have to be used within four hours. In many countries a lot of the product goes to waste, either because the temperatures of conservation were not respected or because the viles have been open for too long.
Learning from these challenges, the pharmaceutical giants pledged to boost investments in Research and Development practices and have better contingency plans in place to prevent any future potential pandemics and improve existing vaccination program deliveries.
The macro consequences of the pandemic, such as the disrupted value chains, workplaces, the necessity for reskilling the labor force to adapt to new management practices, and the rising energy and fuel prices were also on top of the agenda.
Join us!
Download the app on Apple or Android devices to experience the beginning of the future.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Written by the team @ etha.one
Support our startup:
Coffee button link: