'Let's Rebuild a Broken Global SAY Economy,' DAVOS LEADERS

THE FIRST WINTER MEETING at Davos since 2020, was marked by practical realism.

- PRANJAL SHARMA

Global leaders from various countries, companies and civil society pledged to rebuild the world.

"We see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation at a global and national level. To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery. At the same time there must be the recognition that economic development needs to be made more resilient, more sustainable and nobody should be left behind," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

Geopolitics

The need for collaboration is growing stronger. The western world is realising that global challenges of climate change, geo-political tensions, pandemic and economic slowdown have to be tackled in collaboration with emerging economic giants in Asia and Africa. In 2023, India has the presidency of G20 while South Africa is the chair of the BRICS summit.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged leaders gathered for the annual meeting to take urgent action. Taking note of a range of critical threats facing the world, he said, "We are looking into the eye of a Category 5 storm." Drawing a parallel with the tobacco industry in the 1970s when companies knew of the dangerous health effects - he said "Big Oil" must be held to account for the damaging impact of fossil fuels on the planet.

Of the critical threats facing the world, Guterres said one of the most dangerous is what he termed the "Great Fracture", the decoupling of the world's two largest economies, the United States and China - "a tectonic rift that would create two different sets of trade rules, two dominant currencies, two internets and two conflicting strategies on artificial intelligence."