Davos faces up to towering global challenges
The conflict betweet the US and Iran set to darken the horizon at the event
Global decision makers gather in Davos from Tuesday for their annual meeting, with challenges facing the planet — from climate change to conflict in the Middle East — as imposing as the Alps surrounding the Swiss resort.
Observers fear the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) will serve only to again expose the differences between East and West, the US and the EU, and business and activists in combating the most burning threats at the start of the third decade of the 21st century.
But organisers of the event, which goes back to 1971 — when the world was without mobile phones, climate change not a concern and nations locked in the Cold War — seek to tackle the issues with a long list of guests from all sides.
US President Donald Trump will likely hog much of the limelight, but also present for the second year will be Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Another issue set to darken the Davos horizon is the risk of conflict between the US and Iran, as tensions spike following the US killing of a top Iranian commander and Iran’s subsequent accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, however, cancelled his planned participation at the four-day forum, removing any chance of a showdown or meeting with Trump.
With Chinese vice premier Han Zheng leading a delegation from Beijing, the trade dispute between China and the US will also be at the centre of attention, even after this week’s signing of a deal that marked a truce after two years of tensions.
Key European figures present will be EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“On climate change and on many global conflicts — such as the US conflict with Iran
— US and European leaders disagree not just on the solution but also on the very nature of the problem,” European Council on Foreign Relations research director Jeremy Shapiro said.
He said while EU leaders saw climate change as an “existential challenge,” Trump considered it a hoax.
The two sides are also at loggerheads over the Iran nuclear deal from 2015 that was supposed to defuse risk of conflict with Tehran.
“None of this is a firm foundation on which to build common solutions to vexing global problems,” Shapiro said.
In its global risk report, issued ahead of Davos, the WEF singled out popular discontent over a lack of economic stability, climate change, unequal access to the internet and healthcare systems under stress as key challenges for humanity.
With the fires that have ravaged Australia attracting global attention, it said “climate change is striking harder and more rapidly than many expected”, with temperatures on track to increase by at least three degrees towards the end of the century.
Global health systems risk being “unfit for purpose” as non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and mental illness replace infectious diseases as the leading cause of death.
Another threat is growing distrust of vaccines and increasing resistance of many germs to antibiotics and other drugs.
“The world cannot wait for the fog of geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainty to lift,” the report said.
“Opting to ride out the current period in the hope that the global system will ‘snap back’ runs the risk of missing crucial windows to address pressing challenges.”