The Davos Forum 2021 will seek to alleviate the COVID-19 crisis
Every year at this time, the small Swiss town of Davos brings together the world's economic and political elite. Last year, up to 3,000 personalities from the business and political world, as well as representatives of civil society, philanthropists, thinkers and journalists took to the streets of the Alpine town.
Interest groups for a coherent and sustainable world', that was the latemotivation of 2020 - even without the impact of COVID-19 - to reshape capitalism to protect the environment. This year, however, the virus will replace Greta Thunberg in the leading role. This season's theme is 'The Great Reboot' after the pandemic.
The protesters will also be absent from Davos. The frequent protests will not be physically present, as the 51st World Economic Forum will be held virtually from 25-29 January. However, it will be Singapore that will host the in-person edition next May, replacing the Swiss city.
Although they have expressed their intention to return the event to its traditional location in 2022, some local businesses suspect that the Forum may not return to Davos, and fear significant economic losses. In addition, prior to the Singapore meeting, Tokyo will host the Global Technology Governance Summit in April, which is also organised by the Forum.
"This unique meeting will be an opportunity for leaders to outline their vision and address the most important issues of our time, such as the need to accelerate job creation and protect the environment," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, at the launch.
Last November, Schwab said that "we will need a systemic approach, because we know that everything is interdependent, everything is globally connected". It is this intention to reinforce the existing economic order that anti-globalists denounce.
As the World Economic Forum (WEF) began preparations for the event, speakers from the British NGO Oxfam said that "billionaires, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk, have seen their wealth skyrocket during the pandemic, while the world's poor face years of hardship".
"We are witnessing the largest increase in inequality since records began", executive director Gabriela Bucher said in a statement. "A temporary tax on the surplus profits of the 32 global corporations that have profited most during the pandemic could have raised $104 billion by 2020," Oxfam said.
The charity called for higher wealth taxes and stronger protections for workers. The World Economic Forum, for its part, focuses on issues such as international cooperation, sustainable economy, digital transition, etc.
The first day of the event began with the theme of moving towards a new social contract. The agenda is to respond to and protect the nearly 1.6 billion vulnerable workers who have been affected by the pandemic.
The first day's leadership panel included Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Paul Kagame, Prime Minister of Rwanda; James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company; Sharan Burrow, Secretary General of the International Trade Confederation (ITUC); Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP, as well as social entrepreneur Hilary Cottam.
Several prominent international leaders will be speaking throughout the week. Forum participants include Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Other key international figures such as UN Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Anthony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will also be present. In addition, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and Christine Lagarde, the President of the ECB will represent the European Union.
The aim of this year's event will be to find solutions to revive the global economic situation caused by COVID-19. The virus has caused more than 100 million infections worldwide, more than 2 million deaths and has left the vast majority of countries in an economic recession comparable only to that of 2008.
This year, moreover, the legitimacy and coherence of the World Economic Forum is more questioned than ever. Although the holding of the Forum had generated protests, the tension is not comparable to that of other courses. Many authoritative voices have harshly criticised this 51st edition.