What's Happening at the WEF's Davos Meeting 2025?

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting taking place in Davos this year is themed "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age."
Its agenda covers the themes rebuilding trust, reimagining growth, investing in people, safeguarding the planet and industries in the intelligent age.
Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer at Johnson Controls, says: “At Davos, world events like military conflicts, trade wars, inflation and the AI revolution will dominate discussions. But I also expect climate change and sustainability will be crucial, especially in light of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
“The challenge — and opportunity — will be to highlight the essential connection of climate action to progress against the array of top-of-mind concerns.
“For CEOs worried about business growth, we can show that leaning into decarbonisation offers a competitive edge, as seen in Johnson Controls' own success in reducing both carbon and operating costs.”
Safeguarding the planet
The WEF's 2025 meeting will host 26 live sessions dedicated to "safeguarding the planet."
Topics range from carbon pricing and biodiversity markets to discussions on COP30 and changing weather patterns.
Speakers on the agenda include Al Gore, Former US Vice President and climate activist, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All.
Ester Baiget, President and CEO at Novonesis and Co-Chair of the WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, is scheduled to speak on Europe’s balance of economic competitiveness and decarbonisation.
She said in a social media post: “Climate transformation isn't about avoiding risks. It's about building resilience and unlocking growth. It's about turning challenges into competitive advantages and innovation opportunities.”
Katie says: “Despite – or because of – the weighty issues at Davos, climate action can be shown to drive global progress and corporate success.”
Industries embracing intelligent technologies
The agenda also includes more than 30 talks under the theme "industries in the intelligent age," featuring more than 120 influential speakers from various sectors.
Some of these include Marc Benioff, CEO at Salesforce, Albert Bourla, CEO at Pfizer, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO at Uber and Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer at Alphabet and Google.
Katie explains: “Addressing energy demands resulting from the AI revolution and exponential growth in data centres will also be key. There we can show that decarbonisation, again, is key. Through innovative cooling technologies, we can cut energy use by nearly 80% and zero out on-site water consumption for keeping chips cool in data centres.”
Live sessions under this theme will explore nuclear power capacity, industrial decarbonisation as a growth strategy and EV supply chains amongst other topics.
Investing in people
With more than 180 names on the agenda and 45 sessions planned, “investing in people” is a topic with a lot to bring at Davos 2025.
Speakers on the agenda include Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation, Barbara Frei, Executive Vice President and CEO for Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric, Historian and Author Timothy Snyder, Helen E. Clark, UNDP Administrator and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Olympic diving champion and LGBTQ+ advocate Tom Daley.
Alvaro Lario, President of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said in a statement: “Forced migration, food price inflation and accelerating climate change are all warning signs of a fragmented world that profoundly threatens stability and food security.
“All of these challenges can be addressed by investments in rural areas that provide decent jobs for young people, stabilise the global food supply and help small-scale producers adapt to our changing climate.
“I call on leaders at Davos - especially governments, private investors and innovators - to invest funding, know-how and technologies in pursuit of a more shared prosperity that will benefit us all.
“We must harness the intelligent age to ensure emergent technologies are accessible to all, especially the world’s poorest. Letting them fall even further behind risks global development and increases the risk of hunger and conflict everywhere.”
Building global trust
The "rebuilding trust" sessions aim to foster collaboration across international and societal divides.
With nearly 100 speakers, the discussions will address AI governance, conflict in the Middle East and elections among other global concerns.
Prominent speakers include Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of the UK, musician and producer Nile Rodgers, Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Børge Brende, President of the WEF and Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The topic aims to explore how stakeholders can find new ways to collaborate on solutions both internationally and within societies.
Reimagining growth
With 47 talks scheduled, “reimagining growth” is a topic that aims to explore building stronger and more resilient economies alongside identifying new sources of growth.
Speakers include Christina Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, economist and Harvard Professor Dani Rodrik, Brian Moynihan, CEO at Bank of America, Gita Gopinath, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and Patrice Louvet, CEO at Ralph Lauren.
These talks will cover topics from major gatherings, like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and the FIFA World Cup, to future financial crises.
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