It has been more than two years since the World Economic Forum (WEF) last convened in Davos. It was the end of January 2020, and a large part of all the talks at the great gathering of the world’s rich and powerful were then in one way or another about the climate, and that we must make a real change. “Sustainability” was this year’s theme.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was there, scolding the world governments for not doing anything serious to save the earth from fossil deaths.
President Donald Trump also showed up, but mostly to brag about how much oil, coal and gas the United States produces.
Even though it was only a few years ago this was a completely different world. At that time, no one could have imagined that within a few weeks the world would be paralyzed by the worst global health crisis in many decades. A previously unknown, mysterious virus was discovered in China, and soon it became a pandemic that caused the world economy to take a big hit.
This year, there are no official participants from Russia.
Two and a half years later – after a period when the corona virus has claimed millions of victims – dozens of heads of state and government meet in the Swiss mountain village, not as usual in snow, but with scorching spring sun between the alpine valleys.
This year we are in a new situation. Not because the climate crisis is in any way about to be resolved, but because for the World Economic Forum is being carried out in the middle of the biggest war in Europe since 1945.
It characterizes the meeting in several ways and Davos. In previous years, many Russian politicians, economists and Kremlin-loyal oligarchs such as Oleg Deripaska, Alisher Usmanov and Viktor Vekselberg used to appear in the crowd. At Russia House in the middle of Davos Promenade, Russian caviar was served spoonfuls and the champagne flowed.
This year, there are no official participants from Russia.
Klaus Schwab, the founder of the WEF, who has known Putin since the early 1990s, last year, in January 2021, got the Russian president to appear online in a virtual version of the Davos meeting. Schwab then said that Putin’s voice was “indispensable” in world affairs. It was not even affected by the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014; the following year, Putin received an invitation to the WEF, which he declined.
Russia’s invasion on February 24 changed everything. Now Russia’s rulers are more or less totally isolated in the West. Also purely practical, as many Russian participants are subject to EU, US and Swiss sanctions. The break with Russia is a severe economic blow to the Davos summit, which was already affected by the pandemic. A large part of the WEF’s huge budget of hundreds of millions of dollars has been covered by large Russian companies and oligarchs.
So this year there will be no Putin, no president from China and the United States. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is fighting for his country’s survival, will appear in Davos, albeit via a big screen from Kyiv.
Facts. The meeting in the Alps
The World Economic Forum is taking place this year 22–26 May. It started in 1971 with a meeting of European politicians and business leaders in Davos in the Swiss Alps. In 1987, the meeting was named the World Economic Forum, WEF.
The purpose of the WEF is to contribute to knowledge about and solutions to global problems by bringing together business leaders, politicians and representatives of international organizations.
About 50 heads of state and government, as well as almost as many central bank governors and foreign ministers, are expected to attend.
WEF always has a main theme. 2018 was the problem of globalization: “Creating a common future in a fragmented world.” 2019 and 2020 were the climate crisis. This year’s theme is characterized by the pandemic and the war: “Working Together, Restoring Trust”.
The United States regularly sends representatives to Davos, but presidential visits are unusual. Bill Clinton came in 2000, Donald Trump was with 2018 and 2020. China’s leader Xi Jinping was with 2017. The last time Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in place was in 2009.
This year, Minister of Finance Mikael Damberg will come from Sweden.
Show more