The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos returns to a more familiar environment next week. Last year global leaders relaxed in shirt sleeves during a mild and snow-free May, but this year’s meeting is back to subzero January. While the temperature at this year’s conference may have dropped, the multiple crises delegates are there to address are decidedly heating up. We see one fundamental tool upon which conversations at Davos around development must be based: good data.
Since the last Davos meeting, a series of alarms have been sounded. The World Bank has said that the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, the first promise of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, can no longer be achieved, and warned this week of a possible global recession ahead.
On climate change, despite some progress at the 27th United Nations climate summit, U.N. Secretary-General General António Guterres said that national climate plans are “falling woefully short” amid a widening global emissions gap. And global inequality remains high and is increasing in most countries, particularly after COVID-19 reversed decades of progress on poverty reduction.
About the author
Adrian Lovett
Adrian Lovett is the executive director for the United Kingdom, Middle East, and Asia Pacific at ONE. He has been instrumental in successful campaigns such as Make Poverty History and the Jubilee 2000 debt relief initiative, and has held leadership roles at Oxfam, Save the Children, and the World Wide Web Foundation.
