Climate for conflict, Davos’ post-COVID return has full plate
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks on a screen inside a so-called Russian War Crimes House with the World Economy Forum on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. An exhibition with photographs documenting suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian War is to be shown in the house. The annual meeting of the World Economy Forum has been taking place in Davos since May. until 22 May. 26, 2020.
People gather in front of the so-called Russian War Crimes House along with the World Economy Forum on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. An exhibition with photographs documenting suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian War is to be shown in the house. , The annual meeting of the World Economy Forum has been taking place in Davos since May. until 22 May. 26, 2020. (AP Photo / Marcus Schreiber)
A security guard talks to a woman in front of the Ukrainian House with the World Economy Forum on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. The annual meeting of the World Economy Forum has been taking place in Davos since May. until 22 May. 26, 2020. (AP Photo / Marcus Schreiber)
People look at a map of Ukraine with the number of civilians killed inside the so-called Russian War Crimes House with the World Economy Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, January 22, 2022. The numbers on the map are based on reports from Amnesty International. The annual meeting of the World Economy Forum has been taking place in Davos since May. until 22 May. 26, 2020. (AP Photo / Marcus Schreiber)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks on a screen inside a so-called Russian War Crimes House with the World Economy Forum on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. An exhibition with photographs documenting suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian War is to be shown in the house. The annual meeting of the World Economy Forum has been taking place in Davos since May. until 22 May. 26, 2020. (AP Photo / Marcus Schreiber)
Protesters carry banners reading “Smash WEF” during a demonstration against the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 20, 2022. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Davos on 22-26 May. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Riot police use pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters during a demonstration against the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 20, 2022. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Davos on 22-26 May. , (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
A view of Davos and its congress center before the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Switzerland, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Gian Ehrenzeler/Keystone via AP)
Activists prepare the stage ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in Davos, Switzerland.
An injured young woman, centre, is held by police officers next to an injured police officer in plain clothes after police used pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters during a demonstration against the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Zurich. has been placed in. Switzerland, Friday, May 20, 2022. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Davos on 22-26 May. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Protesters carry banners reading “Smash WEF” in front of people sitting in a restaurant during a demonstration against the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 20, 2022. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held from 22 May. -26, in Davos. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Protesters burn smoke petards during a demonstration against the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, May 20, 2022. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Davos from 22 to 26 May. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Davos, Switzerland (AP) – Davos – the center of an elite annual 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 away. There is no shortage of urgent issues to tackle at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
With their high ambition to help improve the condition of the world, the organizers of the forum have their work cut out for them: rising food and fuel prices, Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change, drought in Africa and food shortages. Shortage, yawning inequality between the rich and poor, and autocratic rule are gaining ground in some places – on top of signs that the pandemic is not over.
It is hard to predict whether the high-profile discussions will lead to significant announcements that will move on to the world’s most pressing challenges.
War will be a major theme in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky will speak by video from Kyiv on Monday on opening day, while the country’s foreign minister and a large delegation of other top Ukrainian officials will be on hand. He will be joined this week by leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US climate envoy John Kerry, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“There is no business as usual,” Forum president Borge Brende told the Associated Press, adding that Ukraine is not the only concern. “It is also climate change. It is also global growth slowing down, and we have to avoid that this very weak recovery ends with a new recession because we have very limited ammunition to fight a new recession- There’s gunpowder.”
“A new recession will increase unemployment, increase poverty,” he said. “A lot is at stake.”
President Vladimir Putin’s war means Russian business and political leaders have not been invited to Davos this year. There will be no more traditional “Russia House” social celebration with caviar and vodka spreads for the nobility of evening fun.
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Instead, critics – notably including Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Pinchuk and the country’s foreign ministry – have captured some of the symbolism and vowed to express their disgust, which is shared by many around the world.
“This year, Russia is not present in Davos, but its crimes will go unnoticed. The ‘Russia War Crime House’ takes place inside the former Russia House,” organizers of the re-designated venue said in a press release.
The event, which opens on Monday, will feature photographs of the crimes and atrocities that the Russian military is accused of. Some victims will speak out – including Anatoly Fedoruk, mayor of Bucha, a city near Kyiv where images of civilian killings sparked worldwide outrage.
“It is important to understand what is really happening in Ukraine,” said Björn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArt Center, which is helping organize the exhibition. “Part of this exhibition is also to bring back a human face to those who have become victims of these Russian war crimes.”
Forum president Brende says that many CEOs and other business leaders are looking at ways the private sector can support Ukraine, “in a situation where Russia is breaking international law, international humanitarian law, and the United Nations.” Not sticking to the charter.”
Not everyone believes that Davos is where solutions can be found.
A few dozen anti-capitalist demonstrators marching behind a “Smash WEF” banner in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, clashed with police on Friday, a sign of fierce protest against the economic elite, on whom they are trying to cast an advantage over the people. accuse. Police used rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, which was believed to be an unauthorized gathering.
While Ukraine will draw attention on the first day of the meeting, climate and environmental issues will be a recurring, ongoing topic as the forum looks at the challenges of the future as much as the present.
A third of the nearly 270 panel discussions through Thursday’s closing will focus on climate change or its effects, with extreme weather, efforts to reach “net zero” emissions and finding new, clean sources of energy on the agenda.
The forum manager – who has sometimes faced criticism about a host of wealthy executives flying on emissions-spewing corporate jets – has tried to play his part and inoculated himself against accusations of hypocrisy: Over the past five years, they say they have offset 100% of the carbon emissions from the organization’s activities by supporting environmental projects.
Experts say offsets can be problematic because there is no guarantee they will work to reduce emissions.
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