World Economic Forum (WEF)

Context:

PM to deliver ‘State of the World’ special address at WEF’s Davos Agenda on 17th January

About World Economic Forum:

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organization
• Headquarter based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
• It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab.
  • First named the European Management Forum, it changed its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987 and sought to broaden its vision to include providing a platform for resolving international conflicts.
  • The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than five billion US dollars in turnover – as well as public subsidies, views its own mission as “improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”.
• The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
  • The meeting brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among which are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists – for up to five days to discuss global issues across 500 sessions.
• Next to Davos, the organization convenes regional conferences in locations across Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and India and holds two additional annual meetings in China and the United Arab Emirates. It furthermore produces a series of reports, engages its members in sector-specific initiatives and provides a platform for leaders from selected stakeholder groups to collaborate on multiple projects and initiatives.
• The Forum suggests that a globalized world is best managed by a self-selected coalition of multinational corporations, governments and civil society organizations (CSOs), which it expresses through initiatives like the “Great Reset” and the “Global Redesign”. It sees periods of global instability – such as the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic – as windows of opportunity to intensify its programmatic efforts.
• The World Economic Forum and its annual meeting in Davos have received criticism over the years. Issues raised about the conference and the WEF include: the public cost of security, the organization’s tax-exempt status, unclear decision processes and membership criteria, a lack of financial transparency, the environmental footprint of its annual meetings, and institutional whitewashing initiatives. As a reaction of criticism within Swiss society, the Swiss federal government decided in February 2021 to reduce its annual contributions to the WEF.

AGENDA

• Every aspect of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions, must be overhauled collectively and quickly.
• Every country must participate, and every industry must be transformed, from oil and gas to technology.
• In summary, capitalism should undergo a MAJOR RESET.
• According to C Raja Mohan (Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore), the agenda of The Great Reset touches on many of the world’s most pressing issues.

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.

Reports published by World Economic Forum

• Global risk report, Recently Published
• Readiness for the future of production
• Global gender gap report
• Inclusive development index
• Global competitiveness report (index)
• Global human capital report (index) Do not confuse with World Bank report (Human Capital Index)
• Travel and tourism competitiveness report (index)
• Global energy architecture performance index report

Other Reports

Prioritized key areas at the platform:

• Ecology: How to mobilize business to respond to the risks of climate change and ensure that measures to protect biodiversity reach forest floors and ocean beds.
• Economy: How to remove the long-term debt burden and keep the economy working at a pace that allows higher inclusion.
• Technology: How to create a global consensus on deployment of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and avoid a ‘technology war’.
• Society: How to reskill and upskill a billion people in the next decade.
• Geopolitics: How the ‘spirit of Davos’ can create bridges to resolve conflicts in global hotspots. Informal meetings to set kickstart conciliation.
• Industry: How to help business create the models necessary to drive enterprise in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. How to navigate an enterprise in a world exposed to political tensions and driven by exponential technological change as well as increasing expectations from all stakeholders.

Initiatives under the World Economic Forum (WEF)

Some of the initiatives that were taken as a part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) are discussed below: 

1. A global initiative for epidemics was launched at WEF in Davos on 19 January 2017. This initiative was named Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which aims to secure vaccine supplies for global emergencies and pandemics and to research new vaccines for tropical diseases. 
2. Also in the year 2017, WEF launched the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for the Earth Initiative which is a collaboration between WEF, Stanford University, and PwC. The initiative is funded through the Mava Foundation and in 2018, WEF announced that one project within this initiative was to be the Earth BioGenome Project with an aim to sequence the genomes of every organism on Earth. 

THE GREAT RESET INITIATIVE OF WEF

• In the post-Covid world, the Davos Dialogues agenda marks the start of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset Initiative.
• The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Great Reset proposal aims to rebuild the economy in a sustainable manner following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It was unveiled in May 2020 by Prince Charles of the United Kingdom and World Economic Forum director Klaus Schwab.
• It is founded on the belief that the global economy is in serious trouble.
• Many factors have exacerbated the situation, including the pandemic’s devastating effects on global society, the unfolding technological revolution, and

Source: PIB

WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report

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