International Geneva & Environment @ World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024

The 2024 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will be held under the theme ‘Rebuilding Trust’, responding to current trends of erosion in trust given by the multiple shocks the world is faced with. Aiming to start restoring trust at three fundamental levels: into the future, within societies and among nations, the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a space to step back and focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.

How to follow WEF 2024

For those who are not able to attend the Davos Meeting in person, various options to follow discussions are in place:

• Various sessions livestreamed sessions will be published on the World Economic Forum’s YouTube Channel and covered on WEF’s X account.
• Premium or Pro Digital Members will get access to an exclusive virtual programme that gives an inside view of the discussions within the Congress Center in Davos and access exclusive commentary interviews and debates with leading experts responding to the plenary keynote speeches and panels.
• Ahead of the meeting and throughout the week of Davos 2024, articles and opinion pieces by participants, including Forum experts, business executives, public figures and civil society leaders will appear on WEF’s content platform, Agenda.
• The podcasts Radio Davos and Meet the Leader will provide deep-dives into the discussions.
• WEF’s social media channels:  X |Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram |  Threads | TikTok | Use and Follow #wef24

Global Risk Report 2024

Ahead of the Annual Meeting, the Forum launched the Global Risks Report 2024, exploring some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, with environmental risks ranking in the current risks landscape and many environmental indicators in the top positions of the global risks over the short and long term list. Misinformation/disinformation is the biggest short-term risk, while the environment dominates longer-term concerns. → Read the report

The Environmental Agenda

Various actors for the Geneva community will participate in the discussions in Davos to foster the dialogues on the Long-Term Strategy for Climate, Nature and Energy, as one of the key themes of the forum. Many sessions will be livestreamed; relevant sessions on the environmental agenda include:

15 January

• Opening Concert | 18:30–19:15 CET

16 January

• First Movers for Frontier Clean Technologies | 08:15–09:00 CET
• Energy amid Rivalry | 08:15–09:00 CET
• The Right Stuff – A New Relationship with Materials | 08:15–09:00 CET
• Open Forum: Take a Deep Breath with Technology | 09:30–10:30CET
• On the Frontlines for Nature | 09:30–10:15 CET
• Transforming Energy Demand | 09:30–10:15 CET
• When Climate Impacts Your Health | 09:30–10:15 CET
• Mainstreaming Ecopreneurs | 09:30–10:15 CET
• Brazil’s Sustainable Transformation | 13:00–13:45 CET
• Where Nature Meets Conflict | 13:00–13:45 CET
• Setting Standards for Nature | 13:15–13:45 CET
• COP28 and the Road Ahead | 15:15–15:45 CET
• Finding a Balance for the Amazon | 16:15–17:00 CET
• Forests as a Climate and Livelihood Solution | 16:15–16:45 CET

17 January

• Putting a Price on Nature | 09:00–09:45 CET
• Avoiding a Crunch in Critical Minerals | 11:30–12:15 CET
• Preparing for Disease X | 11:30–12:15 CET
• New Apps for Climate Adaptation | 11:30–12:15 CET
• Open Forum: Sustaining Life on Earth | 12:30–13:30 CET
• Climate and Nature: Seed Capital Needed | 13:15–14:00 CET
• Climate and Nature: A Systemic Response Needed | 14:30–15:30 CET
• Net Zero Industries | 15:00–15:45 CET
• Tripling Renewables: Make It Rapid and Responsible | 15:00–15:45 CET
• Out of Balance with Water | 15:00–15:45 CET
• Live from the Deep Sea | 16:00–17:00 CET
• Calming Green Trade Tensions | 16:15–17:00 CET
• Bold Steps for a Sustainable MENA | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Energy Transition: Leaving No One Behind | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Fighting the Obesity Epidemic | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Working in Harmony with Nature | 17:30–18:00 CET
• Beyond the Sustainability Metrics: The Burden of Proof | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Landing an Ambitious Global Plastics Treaty | 17:30–18:15 CET

18 January

• From Waste to Wardrobe: Making Circular Fashion Fashionable | 09:00–09:45 CET
• European Green Deal, Anyone? | 09:00–09:45 CET
• Building Equitable Transitions: Green and Fair | 10:15–11:00 CET
• History-making in the High Seas | 10:15–11:00 CET
• Industrial Clusters: Is there a Blueprint? | 11:30–12:15 CET
• Open Forum: On Thin Ice | 12:30–13:30 CET
• First Movers Coalition for Food | 13:15–14:00 CET
• Rolling out EVs: A Marathon or a Sprint? | 15:00–15:45 CET
• Land Use: Managing the Trade-offs | 15:00–15:45 CET
• Alpine Economies at +2C | 15:00–15:30 CET
• Decongesting Cities | 16:15–17:00 CET
• Are the Financial Risks of Climate Change Under-Priced? | 16:15–17:00 CET
• Moving Forward with the Energy Transition | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Who Stole My Feedstock? | 17:30–18:15 CET
• Open Forum: Resilience in Motion | 18:30–19:30 CET

19 January

• Earth’s Wisdom Keepers | 10:15–11:00 CET

Side Events

• 17 January | How Leaders and Policymakers Can Turn the Tide on Plastic Pollution
• 18 January | Green Hydrogen: The role of states and regional governments in promoting the green agenda to replace fossil fuels | 11:00 CET | Organized by Government of Catalonia | Hotel Parsenn in Davos

Geneva Day @ House of Switzerland

“Geneva Day” hosted at the House of Switzerland in Davos is promoted by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva in collaboration with many partners, among which the FDFA’s Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The “Geneva Day” is taking place on 16 January and aims at putting the spotlight on the role of International Geneva in a complex world. The focus will lay on the impactful and effective sustainable financing – a catalyst for genuine transformative change, on the inequalities when it comes to connectivity in terms both of infrastructure and financing, on support for humanitarian demining in Ukraine and on the impact of AI in advancing the sustainable development goals.

All sessions are already fully booked

• Unlocking the True Potential of Sustainable Financing in a Complex World | 11:30 – 14:00 CET | Crystal Lounge
• Building Connectivity to Break the Digital Divide | 13:30 – 14:30 | Nordside
• Humanitarian demining in Ukraine | 16:00 – 17:00 |  Nordside
• Quantum for All | 17:30 – 19:00 | Nordside

News

• Analysis: New nature-based frameworks keep biodiversity in spotlight at Davos | Mark Hillsdon | Reuters | 25 January 2024
• Davos diary: Eric Usher summarises the sustainable finance highlights from the 2024 summit | UNEP FI | 24 January 2024
• At Davos UNECE highlights relevance of its normative tools and partnerships to overcome global challenges in trade, energy and climate | UNECE | 23 January 2024
• As a new plastics deal takes shape, companies must shift their business models now | Inger Andersen | 15 January 2024
• Davos 2024: Extreme weather and misinformation top global risks | Reuters | 10 January 2024
• Global leaders head to Davos: What to expect at the World Economic Forum 2024 | EuroNews.Business | 9 January 2024