Climate change flagged as one of biggest threats at World Economic Forum in Davos
The biggest threats facing the planet were examined during the World Economic Forum (WEF), a gathering of leaders from all sectors meeting in Davos, Switzerland on 17 - 20 January. In the annual Global Risks Report, 750 experts identified environmental and geopolitical risks among the 5 current priority threats. Climate change was singled out as a primary concern for the next decade, deemed as a more probable danger than the risk of pandemics or nuclear disaster. Experts ranked extreme weather as the most likely risk and the second-most impactful, trailing only the use of weapons of mass destruction.
As a sign of how much is at stake, the meeting in Davos devoted 15 sessions to climate change, and 9 more to clean energy. To limit the impact of climate change, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, called for “the alignment of the core business of the private sector with the strategic goals of the international community”, while stressing the importance of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the U.S. cedes leadership on climate, President Xi Jinping of China argued forcefully for follow-through on the 2015 Paris climate deal, while Nirmala Sitharaman, the Indian minister of state for commerce and industry, said the country was ready for a bigger global role in mitigating climate change.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is deeply affected by the rapidly evolving global landscape. A report issued by the WEF MENA Regional Business Council outlines actionable policy recommendations for business, civil society and government to initiate inclusive sustainable development in the region. “This report is the first collective policy reform recommendation that is concrete and scalable,” said Mirek Dusek, the WEF head of MENA. In a new initiative to strengthen entrepreneurship and youth empowerment in the MENA region, the 100 Best Arab World Start Ups programme will feature at the forthcoming World Economic Forum on MENA at the Dead Sea, to be held in Jordan, on 19 - 21 May 2017.