Davos: climate crisis and energy transition dominate forum – 01/14/2024 – Market

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which brings together government officials, businesspeople, academics, executives, journalists and social leaders in the Swiss Alps to debate the planet’s problems, begins this Monday (15) with two determining and interconnected themes on the agenda: energy transition and the climate crisis.

The themes head the risks and concerns highlighted by experts in a report published by the forum last week.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who attended the event in his first term, will not participate in the meeting. Not even Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance), focused on the economic agenda he is trying to pass through Congress, will go this time.

Marina Silva (Environment), Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) and Nísia Trindade (Health) will represent Brazil, as well as the international affairs advisor, Celso Amorim, and the president of the Federal Supreme Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, in a rare participation of a member of the Judiciary. Among the governors, only Helder Barbalho (MDB), from Pará, will go to the Alps.

The president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, had confirmed his presence, but canceled the trip at the last moment to dedicate himself to other company commitments.

Brazilian absences are far from being the only ones. Neither will the leaders of the USA, Joe Biden (Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will represent him), nor of China, Xi Jinping (who will speak in the plenary will be the Prime Minister, Li Qiang), nor the Japanese Fumio. Kishida, the German Olaf Scholz, the Indian Narendra Modi or the British Rishi Sunak.

Among the rulers of the seven largest economies on the planet, only Frenchman Emmanuel Macron will be present, in addition to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Layen. And Javier Milei, the recently inaugurated president of Argentina who promises to pull the country out of the hole with an ultra-liberal speech, will make his debut in the Alpine pulpit.

This does not mean an empty forum, even though the permanent crisis that the world economy has found itself in in recent years and the impasse in the search for consensus have drained some of the energy and importance that the event emanated in the past. To the delight of anti-inequality protesters who were already protesting in the city this Sunday (14), executives from the finance, energy and technology sectors will attend in force, as well as diplomats, ministers and heads of international organizations.

But it will be necessary to take them out of a certain prostration caused by the avalanche of crises: the pandemic and the changes it has brought; two wars that interfere with the geopolitical and commercial balance; increasingly constant climate catastrophes and the spread of nationalism around the world, in addition to the high indebtedness of countries and inflation that has not yet been fully controlled in most countries.

“The question for leaders at Davos in 2024 is whether the year that begins will be a period of ‘permacrisis’ or a moment for resolution, resilience and recovery”, says the president of the Forum, Borge Brende.

The question is pertinent, since many of the promises and commitments sealed in the corridors and stages of Davos have not materialized, and the pressure of crises, whose timing overlaps with that of the weakened global governance, grows amid rapid technological and economic transformation. job market.

“What is crucially needed at this time is a new approach, which promotes the transition to a green, digital and inclusive economy as a major opportunity for creating jobs, increasing purchasing power and ultimately focusing on sustainable economic growth “, writes the entity’s founder and executive president, Klaus Schwab, in an article in Sheet.

Therefore, a significant part of the dozens of panels at the event, which this year’s motto is rebuilding trust and cooperation, deals with climate, energy and artificial intelligence (the fired and reinstated CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, is a of the most anticipated names).

As in recent years, the Amazon is a prominent topic, as is investment in renewable energy, which attracts doubly the spotlight to Brazil.

It will be interesting to see how Marina and Silveira will speak, after the country joins the expanded arm of the oil producers cartel, amid business and government leaders who, although they still largely use fossil fuels, are increasingly turning to energy sources cleaner.