(VOVworld) – The on-going 46th World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has drawn the participation of over 2,500 politicians and leaders. Gloomy signs in the global economy have cast a shadow over the meeting.
Under the theme “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, this year’s meeting aims to develop a shared view on rapid technological changes and shaping the future. Critical global challenges such as security, climate change and “new normal” global growth and commodity prices are on the agenda.
Economic slowdown
The WEF’s Global Risks report shows a slowdown in the global economy. Last year, China reported its slowest economic growth in 25 years. China’s National Bureau of Statistics said economic growth fell to 6.8 percent in the last quarter of 2015, dragging down China’s annual growth to 6.9 percent. Besides concerns over the slowdown of the world’s 2nd biggest economy, the WEF also touched upon such problems as high unemployment and the impact of low oil prices on petroleum exporting countries, which caused a steep drop in international securities markets at the beginning of this year. Global economic growth is now predicted to be 3.3% in 2016 and 3.4% in 2017, lower than the prediction 3 months ago.
At the opening of the WEF meeting on January 20, the Asian securities market fell sharply and the world crude oil price dropped to 28 USD per barrel, the lowest price in 12 years. Income inequality has widened to the point where a handful of the world’s richest people own more than the poorest half of the world’s population. Oxfam’s calculates that 62 billionaires own more than the world’s 3.5 billion poorest people.
Concerns over climate change
Climate change is another major topic. Efforts to cope with climate change have fallen short of expectation. This is the first time an environmental issue has topped the WEF’s global risks list. Last year, CO2 levels in the air for the first time exceeded the safe zone and the average temperature reached 10DC above the pre-industrial level. Climate change poses great challenges to business and ordinary people: coastal flooding and threats to agriculture, biodiversity, and the ecosystem.
46th WEF calls for action
Between January 20-24, the WEF is holding 200 sessions to seek solutions to these problems. The participants are working on ways to help migrants integrate into their new community. Argentinean President Mauricio Macri, representing the world’s emerging economies, talked about his own country’s economic reforms and challenges to other emerging economies.
The WEF is urging world leaders to honor commitments made at the 21st UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris to minimize global warming and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.