Sergio Ferrari*, Prensa Latina employee
As usual, representatives from business, politics, science and culture will be there. According to the Swiss authorities, between 200 and 300 of them are protected under international law (e.g. heads of state or government, ministers or high-ranking representatives of international organizations), which requires increased security.
The security mechanism of the Davos Forum (World Economic Forum, WEF, for its English acronym) will cost around nine million 700 thousand dollars, a third of which will be funded by itself and the rest by the federal, cantonal and municipal authorities, through Swiss taxpayers. Factor underscored in repeated criticism from national media questioning this excessive state involvement in a call of a private nature.
world in crisis
As emphasized by the organizers of the forum, the world is facing an exhausting crisis. And they add that the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unexpected war between Russia and Ukraine are increasing global uncertainty and leading to a sharp slowdown in growth and a sharp rise in inflation. This requires the search for common and courageous solutions.
The 53rd edition of the Davos Forum will be structured around five thematic axes: the energy and food crises; the economy at a time of high inflation, low growth and high debt; industry barriers; social vulnerability in the context of a new work system and geopolitical risks in the context of a new multipolar world system.
The Swiss digital platform swissinfo.ch titled an analysis published on the second Friday of January “The World Economic Forum in the shadow of social unrest” and stressed that “the threat of potential social unrest will test the moderation of political elites and business”. meeting in Davos at the dawn of an “unpredictable and unsettling 2023”.
The analysis insists that “last year’s rise in fuel and food prices sparked protests and strikes around the world,” echoing the sentiments of many economists who are predicting more pain and pressure on households, particularly the most modest, in the coming months .
Current studies by the International Monetary Fund and other multinational organizations reduce growth expectations for 2023 to 2.7 percent and assume that the global economy will slow down more than expected. The wealthy countries, with exceptions such as Japan, will not exceed one percent growth (the USA one percent; the euro zone 0.5 percent), while in the peripheral countries (“developing countries”) an average of 3.7 percent will be achieved.
According to the World Bank, Latin American countries will only grow between 0.9% in Mexico, 0.8% in Brazil, 2% in Argentina and an extraordinary 5.2% in Paraguay.
For its part, ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), in its Social Panorama 2022 report published last November, estimates that 201 million people (32.1 percent of the region’s total population) live in a situation of poverty, of whom 82 Millions (13.1 percent) live in extreme poverty.
In addition, it is estimated that the region’s economic growth slowdown will deepen in 2023, reaching a rate of 1.3 percent, barely a third of the rate of 2022 (3.7 percent) and an abrupt decline from the previous year of 6.7 percent corresponds to from 2021.
criticism of Davos
Although the WEF sees itself as an important place to address these acute problems facing the planet with the currently dominant economic order, there are many critical voices against this event, which for decades has shown great impotence to propose global solutions.
For example, as the analysis by swissinfo.ch underlines, the Patriotic Millionaires, an association that brings together more than 100 wealthy people, mostly Americans, had already given a very critical assessment of the WEF last year.
“The truth is that Davos does not deserve the trust of the world at the moment. Despite the countless hours spent debating how to make this world a better place, amidst a torrent of complacency, this forum has delivered little tangible value.”
Morris Pearl, President of Patriotic Millionaires, claims in recent statements to the same Swiss digital platform (formerly International Swiss Radio) that “the WEF is a symbol of inequality. He makes large amounts of money by charging conference attendees fees. So far I have seen no solid evidence that the people running the WEF or attending the forum plan to change the trajectory of this growing inequality.
For its part, Greenpeace, in a statement released on Friday 13th, highlights the profound contradictions between the WEF’s rhetoric and its concrete practice on the environment.
“The rich and powerful are flocking to Davos to discuss climate and inequality behind closed doors, using the most unequal and polluting mode of transport: private jets,” the international NGO emphasizes.
According to a study by Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft, the number of private jet flights to and from airports bound for Davos doubled during the 2022 Forum. Researchers attribute around every second flight to the meeting itself. Of all these flights, 53 percent were less than 750 kilometers long, which could easily be covered by train or car; 38 percent were ultra-short flights of less than 500 km. The shortest recorded flight was only 21 km.
Almost 80 percent of the world’s population has never flown and suffers from climate-damaging flight emissions, says Greenpeace. At a time when the Davos Forum is committed to the 1.5°C climate target set in Paris, this ‘annual private jet party’ is a masterclass in hypocrisy and bad taste.
On the other hand, young, autonomous and progressive sectors of Swiss civil society repeat calls of previous years to denounce the Davos Forum “which has been trying to save the world for more than 50 years. But it is they who continue to cheer for capitalism and the climate crisis,” stressed a group of organizations that mobilized the weekend before the forum began.
“The other Davos” is held in the house of the Zurich population, which defines itself as a “counter-event” and launched as a motto: “Solidarity against inflation, against climate catastrophe and against war”. On the same Saturday, the 14th, the “strike against Davos” for climate justice, a 26-kilometer march starting in the town of Küblis via Klosters in an attempt to reach the headquarters of the WEF meetings.
Alternatives from Davos?
A voice with suggestions and global solutions, or a repetitive and discounted forum. This question arises once again when it comes to the new edition of the WEF for the third week of January.
Behind every international initiative there are individuals, personalities. The WEF is no exception to the rule. There are many familiar faces on the board.
Some of them, including: Kristalina Georgieva, Director of the International Monetary Fund; Christine Legarde, President of the World Bank; Knozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director of the World Trade Organization; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, former CEO of Nestlé; Andre Hoffmann, CEO of numerous multinational companies including Holding Roche; Marc Schneider, President and CEO of Nestlé.
Davos, its organizational structure, the vast majority of regular participants, the economic conditions for participating in this conclave express the hegemonic vision of this world immersed in political, military and economic crises. They are faces and voices of power and for power. Those already steering the planetary reins arrive in Davos.
Burning planet Earth continues to seek and await climate solutions, democracy and economic recovery with justice. A global society steeped in uncertainty. And in this concert a devalued Davos. A little more of that.
rmh/sf
*Argentinian journalist living in Switzerland.
(Taken from selected companies)