World Economic Forum 2022 | Gist of Rajya Sabha TV / RSTV (now Sansad TV) - UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

Having been postponed on multiple occasions due to COVID pandemic, the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum this year began on Sunday in Davos with the theme – History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Business Strategies. With the world trying to recover from a global pandemic, grappling to contain the devastating impact of the climate crisis, and navigating a geopolitical storm following the invasion of Ukraine, the WEF has never been confronted with such unprecedented global issues in its 50-year history as it now faces in 2022. This year also marks 35 years of the WEF’s collaboration with India which provides an opportunity for India to showcase its unified presence including the centre and states. From India, three union ministers–Piyush Goyal, Mansukh Mandaviya and Hardeep Singh Puri–as well as several state leaders, including two chief ministers and industry representatives are attending WEF’s annual meeting.

Initiatives

• The Agenda 2022 saw the launch of other WEF initiatives on the economic opportunity of nature-positive solutions, and the Mission on Cyber Resilience to accelerate net-zero emissions.
• Bridging the vaccine gap, strengthening the resilience of global value chains, besides building economies in fragile markets through human investment will also be among the topics of discussion over the next few days.
• How to use data solutions to prepare for the next pandemic will also be included in the discussion.

The World Economic Forum

• The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
• The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
• It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
• The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.
• The activities are shaped by a unique institutional culture founded on the stakeholder theory, which asserts that an organization is accountable to all parts of society. The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.
• It believes that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
• The Forum strategy is simple and effective: bring together the most relevant leaders from all sectors of global society, and identify the best ways to address the world’s most significant challenges.
• It works. For almost 50 years, the Forum has been the catalyst for global initiatives, historic shifts, industry breakthroughs, economic ideas and tens of thousands of projects and collaborations.

Governance

• Chairperson: Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab
• Board of Trustees: exceptional individuals who act as guardians of its mission and values, and oversee the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship.  Its membership is divided equally between representatives of the business community and leaders from international organizations and civil society.
• Managing Board: acts as the executive body of the WEF& acts as its representative to outside parties.
• The organization also convenes some six to eight regional meetings each year in locations across Africa, East Asia, and Latin America, and holds two further annual meetings in China, India and the United Arab Emirates
• Until 2012, it had observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council; it is under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Council

Impact

• Building awareness and co-operation: The Forum creates impact by gathering leaders from business, government, international organizations, academia, civil society and youth to work together to drive positive change
• Shaping mindsets and agendas: Our flagship reports, policy frameworks and strategies influence government priorities, business strategies and public opinion.
• Driving collective action: Projects and collaborations started or supported by the Forum impact millions of people, from saving lives through childhood vaccination to improving the productivity of small-scale farms.

Publications

• Global risk report
• Readiness for the future of production
• Global gender gap report
• Inclusive development index
• Global competitiveness report (index)
• Global human capital report (index)
• Travel and tourism competitiveness report (index)
• Global energy architecture performance index report