KEY POINTS



<ul><li>Nearly 2,500 global leaders from business, politics and civil society are expected to take part in a rare springtime version of Davos this week.</li><li>Organizers of the event had postponed the meeting from its traditional January slot over safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, in a welcome boost to local residents, the forum’s first in-person event has now returned after a two-year hiatus.</li><li>That’s not to say everyone is happy to see the return of the world’s business and political elite to the Swiss Alps.</li></ul>



The World Economic Forum is trying to fix an image problem.



Nearly 2,500 global leaders from business, politics and civil society are expected to take part in a rare springtime version of Davos this week.



The annual meeting will see movers and shakers convene in Switzerland’s luxury Alpine ski resort of Davos for five days of conversation on issues including Covid-19, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the climate crisis.



Organizers of the event had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/davos-world-economic-forum-postpones-meeting-due-to-covid.html">postponed the meeting</a>&nbsp;from its traditional January slot over safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, in a welcome boost to local residents, the forum’s first in-person event has now returned after a two-year hiatus.



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/05/davos-2022-whos-coming-and-everything-else-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">theme</a>&nbsp;of this year’s event is “History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Business Strategies.”



“It means a lot to us. It means a lot to the whole of Switzerland,” Samuel Rosenast, a spokesperson for the local tourism board, said in an interview with CNBC’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-chitty/">Tom Chitty</a>.



Rosenast said the event was “unbelievably important” to those residing in Europe’s highest town, estimating that the resort could see a windfall of approximately 70 million Swiss francs ($72 million) in just this week alone.



“Every business is in contact with the World Economic Forum. The people know how important it is,” Rosenast said. “Most people here are looking forward to the World Economic Forum. They are happy that it takes place here again this year.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-symbol-of-a-failed-era"><a></a>‘A symbol of a failed era’</h2>



That’s not to say everyone is pleased to see the return of the world’s business and political elite to the Swiss Alps. The event has been sharply criticized in recent years for being&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2015/01/22/davos-out-of-touch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">out of touch</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/is-davos-nothing-more-than-an-overpriced-ineffective-talking-shop.html">ineffective</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/davos-is-broadly-irrelevant-there-is-no-case-for-guzzling-jets-and-gallons-of-dom-perignon-20220516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">irrelevant</a>.



Three years ago, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman went viral at a Davos panel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/19/rutger-bregman-historian-who-confronted-davos-elite-on-higher-taxes.html">when he called out billionaires for tax avoidance</a>. In a clip that has now been viewed nearly 11 million times, Bregman said that a global failure to effectively tackle tax avoidance was the primary cause of inequality.



“It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water,” Bregman said at the time. “This is not rocket science … we have got to be talking about taxes. That’s it. Taxes, taxes, taxes.”



More recently, protestors, activists and people on the frontlines of inequality have sought to challenge the WEF over its “<a href="https://inequality.org/research/global-inequality-protest-davos/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">empty rhetoric</a>,” accusing Davos of representing “a symbol of a failed era” that should be left behind.



A report published Monday by global charity Oxfam found that 573 people became new billionaires during the coronavirus pandemic — at a rate of one every 30 hours. The brief, entitled “Profiting from Pain,” expects that 263 million additional people will fall into extreme poverty this year at a rate of 1 million people every 33 hours.



“Billionaires are arriving in Davos to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes. The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.



“Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive.”



In his youth, Philipp Wilhelm was one of those protesting the annual gathering of billionaires and political leaders in the town where he was born. Now, however, Wilhelm is the mayor of Davos, and his goal is to deliver a successful meeting.



“I protested during the annual meeting because, for me, it was important to express that it’s really crucial that we solve this climate crisis. And we need to make the world a more just place,” Wilhelm said.



Wilhelm said that he had taken part in protests because he felt it was essential to ensure that everyone arriving in Davos “gets the message that it’s really important to solve these issues.”



Wilhelm said he — and WEF — had changed their positions since his protesting days, adding that he believes he can influence policy more effectively in his current role.



When asked whether it was a concern that criticism of WEF had become too closely associated with Davos given that the town itself has become largely interchangeable with the forum, Wilhelm replied: “No it doesn’t bother me at all.”



“I think it is interesting that people know Davos as a place where people meet and discuss — and I mean it should be controversial. There should be a discussion about what is the right way to improve the state of the world,” Wilhelm said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Davos 2022 is ‘one marker in time’</h2>



“The forum’s work is ongoing. The meeting is one marker in time,” said Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the World Economic Forum.



“What we’ve been doing over the last two and a half years — while it hasn’t been visible through a particular meeting — is a set of work that is trying to make a dent on inequality and at the same time also make changes towards addressing one of the biggest existential risks we all face which is climate change.”



When asked whether rising income inequality had become a particular problem for the forum, Zahidi replied: “Inequality is a problem for the world. I think we know that societies that do not combat inequality will have slower growth.”



“And so there has to be an effort that addresses inequality. Now, what does that? Better education, better skills, better jobs, addressing issues like taxation and changing the nature of our economies so that they actually work for people and not just for the few,” Zahidi said. “That is going to be front and center on next week’s agenda.”

Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg | Getty Images

How Davos became the anti-establishment’s punching bag

<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="820" height="547" data-id="416877" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416877" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KZN-Floods_Flickr52003672603_c6c56c8529_b-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>
<figcaption class="blocks-gallery-caption">Flood stricken KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.</figcaption></figure>



<ul><li>South Africa is recovering from the biggest natural disaster to hit the country in recent history.</li><li>The country is proactively responding to climate change through adaptation-focused regulation and green energy investments.</li><li>A just transition that protects both lives and livelihoods is the best strategy for South Africa.</li></ul>



In April 2022, heavy rains, flooding, and subsequent mudslides hit the KwaZulu-Natal coast in South Africa. While efforts are underway to establish the extent of the damage, hundreds of lives have been lost, with many more still missing. When visiting the disaster-struck areas around the city of Durban, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, shared his perspective on what lay behind the country’s worst natural disaster on record: “We no longer can postpone what we need to do – we must deal with climate change.”



The impact of the disaster&nbsp;<a href="https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2022-000201-zaf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">was not equally felt</a>. South Africa is the world’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-13-south-africa-the-worlds-most-unequal-country-world-bank-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most unequal country</a>, and it was in the poorer regions where the consequences of the extreme weather were most severe. This impact visualises the plea of many African nations: Poor communities contribute the least to global pollution but are suffering the most.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="adaptation-through-climate-law">Adaptation through climate law</h2>



Disasters such as these can mark a national conscience and drive forward the urgency to act. South Africans are, given the country’s unique history, people of civil action. In the wake of the disaster, thousands of volunteers are assisting in relief efforts, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/15/s-africa-climate-justice-orgs-file-criminal-complaints-agai-govt#:~:text=Johannesburg%2C%20South%20Africa%20%E2%80%93%20A%20group,action%20to%20address%20the%20climate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate justice</a>&nbsp;movements are calling on the government to take practical action to address the climate crisis. These public calls aren’t falling on deaf ears, with the nation’s parliament currently deliberating a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/bill/2300773" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Climate Change Bill</a>. If enacted, this law will place a legal obligation on all local and provincial governments to undertake climate change needs assessments, followed by climate change response implementation plans. These climate change response plans must, as a next step, be integrated into all existing social development plans.



The bill provides for adaptation objectives for the country. These objectives are specific green targets that the government must reach within stringent timeframes. The bill also provides for carbon taxes on heavy polluters and sectoral carbon budgets. Environment minister,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foodformzansi.co.za/at-last-climate-change-bill-reaches-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Barbara Creecy</a>, has called the bill “a dream come true” and that it brings all the country’s efforts to deal with climate change under one piece of legislation. Creecy has emphasized that “Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions of the world that is most vulnerable to climat



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="a-just-transition">A just transition</h2>



One of the results of COP26 was the launch of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.g7uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ANNEX-TO-G7-LEADERS-STATEMENT-PARTNERSHIP-FOR-INFRASTRUCTURE-AND-INVESTMENT-FINAL-3-DECEMBER.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Just Energy Transition Partnership</a>&nbsp;(JETP). This partnership between South Africa, France, Germany, the UK, and the USA, aims to support South Africa’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/south-africa-establishes-historic-international-partnership-support-just-transition#:~:text=President%20Cyril%20Ramaphosa%20has%20today,and%20a%20climate%20resilient%20society" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">just transition</a>&nbsp;to a low carbon economy and climate-resilient society. As Africa’s most industrialized nation and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coal/south-africa-coal/#:~:text=Coal%20Production%20in%20South%20Africa&amp;text=South%20Africa%20produces%20277%2C951%2C564%20tons,ranking%207th%20in%20the%20world." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world’s 7th&nbsp;largest coal producer</a>, South Africa is the&nbsp;<a>world’s 12th&nbsp;largest emitter</a>&nbsp;of carbon dioxide (C02) and is responsible for nearly half of Africa’s C02.



The energy industry is liable for the largest share of emissions, with the country’s energy utility, Eskom, berated as the&nbsp;<a href="https://energyandcleanair.org/eskom-worlds-most-polluting-power-company/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world’s most polluting power company</a>. While&nbsp;<a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/too-cool-coal-future-south-africas-energy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">80% of the country’s energy is still generated from coal</a>, the ongoing war in Ukraine is increasing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb6Dx1ho75c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">global demand for South African coal</a>.



With coal mining employing thousands, particularly in the north-eastern province of Mpumalanga, the impact of this industry on the environment and livelihoods is severe.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/press/4202/new-satellite-data-reveals-the-worlds-largest-air-pollution-hotspot-is-mpumalanga-south-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greenpeace</a>&nbsp;has identified the city of Witbank, in Mpumalanga’s coal belt, as the world’s largest Nitrogen Dioxide hotspot, and a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/24/south-african-court-urges-action-deadly-air-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">court ruling</a>&nbsp;found that air pollution in the area infringes residents&#8217; constitutional right to an environment that isn’t harmful to their health. This just transition away from coal is a necessity not just for those suffering the consequences of extreme weather but for lives indebted to the economic clout of coal in regions like Mpumalanga.



A key mandate of the partnership involves the need for an equitable and inclusive transition for workers and vulnerable communities away from current economic dependencies. While coal mining has been a bedrock of the economy, South Africa is blessed with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217365165#:~:text=With%20an%20average%20of%202%2C500,competitive%20with%20the%20solar%20potential." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">immense renewable energy potential</a>&nbsp;for the just transition, boasting an average of 2,500 hours of sunshine per year and 4,5 to 6,6 kWh/m2&nbsp;of radiation levels for solar power; and wind power potential of up to 6,7000 GWs.



The partnership aims to mobilize $8,5 billion over 3-5 years to bring South Africa’s carbon emissions within the Paris Agreement targets by shifting away from fossil fuels to renewable sources. Renewable energy has already created over&nbsp;<a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2021-09-01-renewable-energy-can-create-about-231-400-jobs-up-to-2030/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">55,000 jobs in the country</a>, and, in Mpumalanga alone,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/up-to-72-000-energy-transition-jobs-could-be-created-in-mpumalanga-by-2030-study-shows-2021-12-08" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">up to 72,000 energy transition jobs</a>&nbsp;can be created through 2030. The adverse, unfortunately, is that roughly 74,000 jobs are at risk. Sustainable job alternatives for such workers are crucial.

KZN Floods_Flickr_52003672603_c6c56c8529_b

How South Africa’s recent floods compel climate action￼

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="820" height="544" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-820x544.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396401" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-820x544.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana&#8217;s president, gestures as he speaks during a news conference on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 21 &#8211; 24. Photographer: Gem Atkinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Africa needs to find its own resources in order to drive a sustainable post-Covid-19 recovery and reconstruction plan built on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President of Ghana told this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this was crucial as the continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility while leveraging rapidly changing digital technologies to improve livelihoods.



“The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” the Ghanaian leader told a session entitled `Building Inclusive, Sustainable and Job-Creating Growth in Africa&#8217;”.



“We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.”



The agreement connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. The World Bank says it has the potential to pull more than 30 million people out of extreme poverty.



Akufo-Addo said goodwill towards the continent remained strong as shown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told the virtual WEF Davos Dialogues that South Africa had mobilised around $51 billion (R774billion) in new investment commitments over the last three years.



Ramaphosa said around a fifth of the committed value had already been invested in construction and essential equipment for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture.



Naspers SA Chief Executive Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa told the meeting that digital had the ability to help reduce some of the inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus.



“Africa’s digital transformation has the potential to leap frog many cycles of development. We can make significant advances enabling sustainable economic growth ensuring we move forward collectively so that no one is left behind.”



Absa Group Chief Executive Daniel Mminele said the there was an opportunity to leverage public funds and infrastructure investments better to uplift communities.



“We need to find sustainable solutions to some of the funding problems we have but funding is very key and a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of both the public and private sector and banks.”

Day Three Of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020

Africa must use continental new trade agreement to plan Coronavirus recovery plan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-392105" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-150x84.jpeg 150w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932-696x391.jpeg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>President Cyril Ramaphosa during a pre-World Economic Forum breakfast briefing on January 18, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.</figcaption></figure>



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday urged the world’s wealthiest countries to stop “hoarding” vaccines and called for an end to “vaccine nationalism.”



In remarks delivered at the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda event, Ramaphosa cautioned that some countries had ordered more supplies of vaccines than they needed, and that this was counterproductive to the global recovery effort.



“Ending the pandemic worldwide will require greater collaboration on the rollout of vaccines, ensuring that no country is left behind in this effort,” he said.



“The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines from the developers and manufacturers of these vaccines, and some countries have even gone beyond and acquired up to four times what their populations need,” he said.



“That was aimed at hoarding these vaccines and now this is being done to the exclusion of other countries in the world that most need this,” he added, urging major economies to release their excess stockpiles for distribution to developing nations.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/25/covid-vaccine-moderna-working-on-covid-booster-shots-for-south-african-strain.html">South Africa</a>&nbsp;is the country worst hit by Covid-19 on the continent, which has largely managed to stave off the kind of uncontrolled spread which brought the U.S. and much of Europe to a standstill. As of Tuesday morning, the country had recorded more than 1.4 million cases with 41,117 deaths.



In a panel discussion as part of the Davos Agenda event on Tuesday morning, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong said the continent is facing a “very aggressive second wave” of the pandemic, with mortality increasing on average 18% across the 55 African member states last week.



“We as a continent must recognize that vaccines will not be here when we want them, but as such we need to really focus on the public health measures that we know work,” he added.



Ramaphosa, who is also chairman of the African Union, lauded the continent’s collaborations on Covid-19 responses, including the African Medical Supplies Platform, which has offered assistance to national health systems, established regional collaboration hubs and deployed community healthcare workers to support testing and treatment efforts.



He also praised the progress of the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, which he said was created when AU nations realized “how the world’s richest countries are behaving.”



The AVATT has secured a provisional 270 million doses for AU member states directly, in addition to the 600 million expected from the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative.

105500770-1539253589126gettyimages-909184932

South African leader Ramaphosa urges rich countries to stop ‘hoarding’ vaccines

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-395299" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561.jpg 1024w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>UKRAINE &#8211; 2020/05/04: In this photo illustration a World Economic Forum logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



For some countries, access to vaccines are increasingly a reality, and millions of vaccines have been purchased with the hope that in time the world’s populations could become COVID-19 immune.



The expectation is that with a vaccine, some aspects of life will return to normal – especially when it comes to travel – which has been particularly hard-hit. This is where a “vaccine passport” or “e-vaccination certification of compliance for border crossing regulations” to enable seamless border-crossing and the harmonization of varying national laws might become a required travel document.



There are important&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d9eff483-a922-4376-b1d2-042f1dff4e3a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">questions</a>&nbsp;to be asked, however, around whether vaccinations prevent transmission, the difference between evidence of inoculation and evidence of immunity, and the rights of those people who may be unable to have the vaccine for health or other reasons.



With this in mind, the World Health Organization (WHO) is looking closely into the use of technology in the COVID-19 response, and how it can work with member states toward an e-vaccination certificate. Importantly, the framework will need to be harmonized, when it comes to standards and the use cases for the certificate, by a normative body like the WHO to ensure that it upholds ethical and equitable principles.



There are also separate initiatives among the private sector, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210114005294/en/Broad-Coalition-of-Health-and-Technology-Industry-Leaders-Announce-Vaccination-Credential-Initiative-to-Accelerate-Digital-Access-to-COVID-19-Vaccination-Records" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vaccine Credentials Initiative</a>, which are feeding into this work by offering authentication tools and solutions.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02450-x"><img decoding="async" src="https://assets.weforum.org/editor/cNNkrSfecATDxPqAnkQHLwfZ7jN_fWxat9PygEbVe5g.JPG" alt=""/></a></figure>



Here,&nbsp;Arnaud Bernaert, Head of Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare at the World Economic Forum, explains why the WHO’s framework must be the global standard and what are the use cases for sharing data around diagnostics and vaccines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-the-idea-of-a-vaccine-passport-entirely-new">Is the idea of a vaccine passport entirely new?</h2>



The concept of a passport to allow for cross border travel is something that we’ve been working on with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/projects/commonpass">Common Trust Network</a>&nbsp;for many months. The focus has been first on diagnostics. That’s where we worked with an organization called “The Commons Project” to develop the “Common Trust Framework”. This is a set of registries of trusted data sources, a registry of labs accredited to run tests and a registry of up-to-date border crossing regulations.



The set of registries can be used to generate certificates of compliance to prevailing border-crossing regulations as defined by governments. There are different tools to generate the certificates, and the diversity of their authentication solutions and the way they protect data privacy is quite remarkable.



We at the Forum have no preference when it comes to who is running the certification algorithm, we simply want to promote a unique set of registries to avoid unnecessary replication efforts. This is where we support the Common Trust Framework.



For instance, the Common Pass is one authentication solution – but there are others, for example developed by Abbott, AOK, SICPA (Certus), IBM and others.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-the-system-work-and-how-could-it-be-applied-to-vaccines">How does the system work and how could it be applied to vaccines?</h2>



The Common Trust Network, supported by the Forum, is combining the set of registries that are going to enrol all participating labs. Separately from that, it provides an up-to-date database of all prevailing border entry rules (which fluctuate and differ from country to country).



Combining these two datasets provides a QR code that border entry authorities can trust. It doesn’t reveal any personal health data – it tells you about compliance of results versus border entry requirements for a particular country. So, if your border control rules say that you need to take a test of a certain nature within 72 hours prior to arrival, the tool will confirm whether the traveller has taken that corresponding test in a trusted laboratory, and the test was indeed performed less than three days prior to landing.



The purpose is to create a common good that many authentication providers can use and to provide anyone, in a very agnostic fashion, with access to those registries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-the-who-s-role">What is the WHO’s role?</h2>



There is currently an effort at the WHO to create standards that would process data on the types of vaccinations, how these are channelled into health and healthcare systems registries, the use cases – beyond the management of vaccination campaigns – include border control but also possibly in the future access to stadia or large events. By establishing in a truly ethical fashion harmonized standards, we can avoid a scenario whereby you create two classes of citizens – those who have been vaccinated and those who have not.



So rather than building a set of rules that would be left to the interpretation of member states or private-sector operators like cruises, airlines or conveners of gatherings, we support the WHO’s effort to create a standard for member states for requesting vaccinations and how it would permit the various kinds of use cases.



It is important that we rely on the normative body (the WHO) to create the vaccine credential requirements. The Forum is involved in the WHO taskforce to reflect on those standards and think about how they would be used. The WHO’s goal is to deploy standards and recommendations by mid-March 2021, and the hope is that they will be more harmonized between member states than they have been to date in the field of diagnostics.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://assets.weforum.org/editor/NII-BtVHEiSGk03O2WFIYSOlZvG8-NRCaZI9WgXFMbI.jpg" alt=""/></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-about-the-private-sector-and-separate-initiatives">What about the private sector and separate initiatives?</h2>



When registry frameworks are being developed for authentication tools providers, they should at a minimum feed as experiments into the standardization efforts being driven by WHO, knowing that the final guidance from the only normative body with an official UN mandate may in turn force those providers to revise their own frameworks. We certainly support this type of interaction, as public- and private-sector collaboration is key to overcoming the global challenge posed by COVID-19.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-more-needs-to-be-done-to-ensure-equitable-distribution-of-vaccines">What more needs to be done to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines?</h2>



As the WHO has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-who/world-is-on-the-brink-of-a-catastrophic-moral-failure-on-vaccines-who-chief-idUSZ8N2HS00V" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>, vaccine nationalism – or a hoarding and “me-first” approach to vaccine deployment – risks leaving “the world’s poorest and most vulnerable at risk.”



COVAX, supported by the World Economic Forum, is coordinated by the World Health Organization in partnership with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; CEPI, the Centre for Epidemics Preparedness Innovations and others. So far,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2020-covax-announces-additional-deals-to-access-promising-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-plans-global-rollout-starting-q1-2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">190 economies</a>&nbsp;have signed up.



The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (<a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACT-Accelerator</a>) is another partnership, with universal access and equity at its core, that has been successfully promoting global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines. The World Economic Forum is a member of the ACT-Accelerator’s Facilitation Council (governing body).

In this photo illustration a World Economic Forum logo seen

What is a ‘vaccine passport’ and will you need one the next time you travel?

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-395299" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561.jpg 1024w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1211759561-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>UKRAINE &#8211; 2020/05/04: In this photo illustration a World Economic Forum logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



The coronavirus is threatening the ability of the world to fight climate change after it worsened economic inequality and destabilized existing geopolitical structures, the World Economic Forum (WEF) says.



WEF’s Global Risks Report 2021 published today says the Covid-19 pandemic is increasing disparities and social fragmentation and will threaten the global economy.



“The pandemic has not only claimed millions of lives, but it also widened long-standing health, economic and digital disparities,” the Geneva-based organization said in the report which also cited economic, environmental, and societal risks as looming dangers.



The novel virus has killed more 2 million people globally since its outbreak in China’s Wuhan city last year. In Africa, the African Union’s Africa Centres for Disease Control says 3.3 million people have been infected while more than 80,000 have died.



&nbsp;“Environmental risks dominate by impact and likelihood, looking ahead towards the next decade. Societal fractures, uncertainty and anxiety will make it more difficult to achieve the coordination needed to address the planet’s continued degradation,” WEF said.



World Economic Forum Managing Director Saadia Zahidi says as governments, businesses and societies begin to emerge from the pandemic, they must urgently shape new economic and social systems that improve a collective resilience and capacity to respond to shocks while reducing inequality, improving health and protecting the planet.&nbsp;



“We know how difficult it is for governments, business and other stakeholders to address such long-term risks, but the lesson here is for all of us to recognize that ignoring them doesn’t make them less likely to happen.”



She says WEF reports have been warning the world about the dangers of pandemics for the last 15 years and it only became a reality in 2020.



Social Value Committee President Lee Hyung-hee says the pandemic in 2020 was a stress-test that shook the foundations of economies and societies worldwide.



“Rebuilding resilience to systemic shocks will require significant funding, international cooperation and greater social cohesion. Resilience will also hinge on the continued growth in connectivity worldwide, as we know that economies that digitized early performed relatively better in 2020.”



Head of Global Risk and Geopolitical Agenda at WEF, Emilio Granados Franco told CNBC Africa that globally, the pandemic has tested the political systems, governments’ capacity, supply chain resilience, cultures and geographies.



“The important objective now is to draw lessons from how different countries responded to the challenges.”

WEF says Coronavirus tested global resilience, climate change defence

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/105691903-1548163290191gettyimages-1085604158.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-353452" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/105691903-1548163290191gettyimages-1085604158.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/105691903-1548163290191gettyimages-1085604158-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/105691903-1548163290191gettyimages-1085604158-696x391.jpeg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Workers listen during a briefing inside the Congress Center, the venue for the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.
</figcaption></figure>



The World Economic Forum (WEF) is aiming to attract around 1,000 delegates for its Singapore summit in late May and wants the iconic Marina Bay Sands complex to host the event, two sources familiar with the organization’s plans said.



The sources, who did not want to be identified as negotiations are ongoing, said the plans for the May 25-28 event were still fluid given the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic raging across the world.



The WEF and Marina Bay Sands declined comment. Singapore’s trade ministry did not immediately have comment.



The annual gathering of political and business leaders was moved from its usual home in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, from which it takes its informal name, to Singapore in December due to virus safety fears, organizers said.



If it goes ahead as planned, the event would be the first in-person global conference since Covid-19 started spreading widely in early 2020. The WEF’s previous summit in Davos in January 2020 was one of the last, and attracted 3,000 delegates and thousands of others for side events.



WEF is aiming for around 1,000 delegates in Singapore, the sources said, possibly up to 1,800 if conditions allow. The usual side events — which have in previous years seen the population of the Alpine town of Davos swell from 10,000 to about 30,000 — will be significantly curtailed due to the virus, the sources added.



Still, there is much uncertainty. Singapore, a Southeast Asian island nation of 5.7 million, has had its borders largely shut to visitors for almost a year, and imposed strict quarantine measures for returning residents.



The emergence of more infectious virus variants have led the city-state to impose further travel curbs on some countries in recent weeks.



WEF organizers hope attendees will be able to avoid quarantines through rigorous testing and by staying in a “bubble” cut off from the local population. Singapore is due to start a trial of a limited version of this scheme later this month, and has also said it will consider relaxing travel restrictions for vaccinated travelers.



Alvin Tan, a senior trade ministry official, said earlier this month there would be measures to manage interactions between WEF attendees and locals, but said specific details were still being worked out.



Finding a venue for this WEF bubble, where attendees can also eat, sleep and mingle, has led the organization to target Marina Bay Sands as potential hosts, the sources said.



Marina Bay Sands, owned by late billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands, is the most globally recognizable building on the wealthy city-state’s skyline, regularly featured on postcards and other tourist wares.



Resembling a surfboard perched atop three towers, it has more than 2,500 rooms and suites, a casino, shops and restaurants, as well as convention and exhibition facilities that can host over 45,000 delegates.



A virus-proofed business travel facility being built at a convention center near the airport could also be among the venues to host WEF travelers, authorities have said.

WEF reportedly targets Marina Bay Sands for Singapore’s ‘Davos’ summit

World Economic Forum: The Outcomes of WEF Davos – An African Perspective

By Dr Patrice Motsepe on his remarks to President Donald Trump at Davos dinner



I’m aware of the lively, diverse and at times emotional debate in the global media and on social media relating to my remarks to President Donald Trump at the dinner in Davos during the World Economic Forum. 



The debate also exposed me to the views of Africans who disagreed with my remarks. I have a duty to listen to these differing views and would like to apologise. I do not have the right to speak on behalf of anybody except myself. As a global philanthropist and business leader, I have for many decades, in South Africa and on the African continent, worked to bring together and unite people of different races, ethnic groups and members of different religious and faithbased organisations. I’ve worked with political, business, societal and other leaders whose views and policies I do not share and will continue to do so in Africa and globally. My remarks at the dinner with President Donald Trump were partly aimed at encouraging discussions between the Trump Administration and African political and business leaders, particularly in the context of the increasing feedback from certain American political and business leaders that South Africa and some African countries are anti-America and its political leadership. This perception has had an impact on our ability to attract foreign investments and create jobs. Africa’s current population is 1.35 billion and it has the fastest growing youth (aged between 15 and 24) and total population in the world. The unemployment rate in the 8 largest African economies measured by GDP is approximately 18%. South Africa which has the most industrialised and diverse economy in Africa has an unemployment rate of 29.1% and a youth (aged between 15 and 24) unemployment rate of 51%. 2 Africa has to create approximately 8 million new jobs for the youth every year and South Africa has to create in excess of 500 000 new jobs for the youth each year. In order to do this and to provide skills and expertise and improve the living conditions and standards of living of millions of Africans, Africa will have to create partnerships and increase trade and investment ties between Africa and America and between Africa and other parts of the world. A successful, prosperous and growing Africa is good and beneficial not only to the 1.35 billion people living in Africa but for the world. Africa and America to a very large extent, share common values and principles and have greater mutual interest than the issues or policies on which they disagree or have different views. It is in the interest of South Africa and the rest of the African continent to build mutually beneficial socio-political, trade, investment and cultural ties between the economies and people of Africa and America and Africa and the world. I am committed to continue making a humble contribution in this regard.

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Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo says the country’s national budget reflects its commitment towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He made this remark while speaking on Ghana’s climate change strategy, economic transformation and more at a press conference in the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos.

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