World Economic Forum returns to Davos in January 2021

One of the most influential gatherings to take place in the global economic landscape, The World Economic Forum (WEF) will employ a new twin-summit arrangement for its next annual Davos conference in January 2021, by uniting leaders from all over the world for in-person as well as virtual dialogues with a theme of ‘The Great Reset’.

The collection of the world’s most affluent and influential people will also unlock its doors virtually for everyone across the world online and through a network of more than 400 centers globally.

The 50th WEF Annual Meeting, which was held from January 21-24, 2020, was one of the last high-profile meetings in this year before the coronavirus pandemic made the world stand till.

In a statement, Geneva-based WEF announced that its 51st Annual Meeting will again draw together global leaders from government, business and civil society, and stakeholders from around the world, but this time in a different arrangement of both in-person and virtual dialogues.

‘The Great Reset’ will be the theme of this unique twin summit in January 2021, the statement added.

The WEF, which defines itself as an international organization for public-private partnership, said ‘The Great Reset’ is a promise to collectively and urgently establish the foundations of economic and social systems for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future.

“It requires a new social contract centered on human dignity, social justice and where societal progress does not fall behind economic development,” the organization asserted.

The WEF stated the global health crisis has laid bare longstanding breaches in economies and societies and produced a social crisis that crucially requires honest, significant jobs for a forward-oriented dialogue driven by the younger generation. These would include cities in India, among other countries.

The declaration of “the great reset” summit was made by the Prince Charles of Wales and WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab during a virtual meeting.

“We only have one planet and we know that climate change could be the next global disaster with even more dramatic consequences for humankind. We have to decarbonize the economy in the short window still remaining and bring our thinking and behavior once more into harmony with nature.”

Prince Charles said, “In order to secure our future and to prosper, we need to evolve our economic model and put people and planet at the heart of global value creation.”

“The great reset is a welcome recognition that this human tragedy must be a wake-up call. We must build more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change and the many other global changes we face.”

Schwab stated that COVID-19 has expedited the world’s transformation into the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while this global pandemic has also proved again how interconnected everyone is.

“We have to restore a functioning system of smart global cooperation structured to address the challenges of the next 50 years. ‘The Great Reset’ will require us to integrate all stakeholders of global society into a community of common interest, purpose and action,” Mr. Schwab said.

“We need a change of mindset, moving from short-term to long-term thinking, moving from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder responsibility. Environmental, social and good governance have to be a measured part of corporate and governmental accountability,” Mr. Schwab added.

The WEF told that the summit will bring together key global government and business leaders in Davos, but that would be devised within a global multi-stakeholder summit driven by the younger generation while guaranteeing that ‘The Great Reset’ dialogue advances beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking and is truly forward-oriented.

To do so, the WEF will attract thousands of young people in more than 400 cities around the world who will be interconnected with a powerful virtual hub network to communicate with the leaders in Davos.

Each of those hubs will have an open-house policy to combine all interested citizens into this dialogue, making the WEF Annual Meeting open to everyone.

In addition, global media and social media networks will assemble millions of people, empowering them to share their input while also presenting them with access to the annual meeting discussions in Davos.

In the run-up to the main annual meeting, the WEF will also host a virtual series, The Great Reset Dialogues.