Conflict, climate change and AI get top billing as leaders converge for Davos

The 2024 World Economic Forum has kicked off in Davos, the popular ski resort in the Swiss Alps, attracting public and private sector leaders from across the globe.

This year, the week-long annual summit is focusing on geopolitics, the future of AI, and climate change. Its motto is ‘rebuilding trust,’ as Mirek Dušek, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, explains:

“Some would link the erosion of trust to the deep transformations that we are seeing all around us, be they technological, political, societal or those related to climate and nature. Some would also say that all these transformations taken together have ushered in, if not a completely new era, at least a stark new reality.”

In Davos, the main shopping street has been transformed into an open-air trade fair. The majority of attendees here do not even have access to the main congress where global leaders take centre stage.

“We are looking for allies who want to join us in the protection of one of the most biodiverse regions in the world,” explains Teku, from the Amazon Sacred Headquarters Alliance. 

Over 60 heads of state and government will be taking centre stage this week in Davos, including US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. They’ll hold both public appearances and closed-door talks. They’ll be among more than 2800 attendees, including academics, artists and international organization leaders.

The World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos from 15 January until 19 January 2024.