The ongoing pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and climate change are key focuses of the World Economic Forum. Here are the primary climate change-related focuses of the Davos forum.
World Economic Forum back in session in Davos
After a two-year break enforced by the pandemic, the World Economic Forum is meeting in the Swiss town of Davos. Unlike the last time around, certain Russian tycoons and their Chinese counterparts will not be showing up due to the sanctions imposed by the west. Other key players such as the Chiefs of JP Morgan & Chase and the Goldman Sachs Group will also not be attending. Around 560 heads of state are slated to come. Among the Group of Seven leaders, only Olaf Scholz, the German Scholz is attending the forum. This year, the US delegation will be led by John Kerry, the US climate envoy.
Other major names include Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan climate activist, Alok Sharma, the president of COP26, and Xie Zhenhua. Xie Zhenhua is the special envoy for climate change and the senior-most Chinese official. Additionally, Zelensky, the Ukrainian President will also be addressing the meeting from Kyiv on Monday. The rising temperature, the cost, and the impact of major unprecedented weather events are taking the world by storm. The impact is particularly high for developing economies which are pushing the issues from science to everyday struggles. Out of the rough 270 panels in the Davos meeting, about one-third are on climate change and its direct effects. The climate panels vary from combating the crippling eco-anxiety to helping nations in debt to transition to a renewable energy source.
Key climate change themes of the forum
The panels of the Davos forum will be wrestling various approaches for investments that take Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) into account. ESG can be vital for climate change as it is a way for investors, companies, and governments. It helps in analyzing how firms operate, exposures, and public declarations. ESG and climate change are highly related. This is because it is also a basis for evaluating a firm’s emissions, financial risk, and environmental impact. Campaigners and environmentalists argue that increasing efforts for reporting and transparency leads to change. Additionally, managers of huge mutual funds stress that ESG is vital for evaluating risk.
Some contentious questions such as the following also come up: Should specific declarations be mandatory? Is ESG standardization necessary? If yes, by whom? Has the ESM movement gone beyond control, hindering investment and doing very little to maintain greenhouse gas emissions? Last week, Elon Musk stated that this approach is “weaponized by phony social justice warriors”.
Additionally, top climate scientists are stressing that a significant reduction of greenhouse gasses this decade is vital for minimizing the warming levels and avoiding devastating effects. However, this will also require major changes to how we do business: from production to transport. Several panels in the Davos meeting are focusing exclusively on areas where businesses were successful in transforming a majority of their energy portfolio into renewables. it will also focus on the role of financing, mandate changes, strategies, and government initiatives on climate change control. Moreover, the forum will also shed light on the effect of war on climate change and how nations should respond to energy dips in oil and gas from Russia. These are important as despite the increasing levels of consciousness and pledges by companies, emissions across the world are increasing.