In Davos, Donald Trump threatened Europe, Greta Thunberg gave a speech for ecology for the second year in a row, and Emmanuel Macron did not attend the event.
By Luxus Plus
This year, participants at the Davos Economic Forum who travelled to the Swiss Alps by train rather than by plane or bus will receive a 50% reduction on their ticket. A simple greenwashing operation? In any case, this measure shows just how important the issue of global warming is at major international events.
Climate change is perceived as the main medium-term risk by 750 world leaders surveyed for the annual Global Risks report. The founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, calls on member companies to commit themselves to having no net carbon emissions in 2050 for the good of the planet. During the week, his teams, surrounded by leading CEOs, presented 150 flagship projects to improve the environment or governance, an initiative to plant more than 1,000 billion trees or a project to unify CSR standards worldwide.
An impactful speech in favour of the environment
Greta Thunberg, invited for the second time, spoke on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum. In her speech, she said: “Our house is still burning. Your inaction is feeding the flames hour by hour. We tell you again that you must panic, and act for the sake of your children”. More concretely, she called for “an immediate halt to all investment in the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels”, “not in 2050, not in 2030 or even in 2021”, but “now”.
But behind this ecological message, Greta Thunberg’s speech was above all a crucial new response to that given by Donald Trump in Davos a few minutes earlier.
While the American president calls for the rejection of prophets of doom, the Swedish activist reminded those who reproached her for being pessimistic that she had achieved nothing except “silence, or worse, empty phrases and false promises”.
Donald Trump against the Europeans
For his part, the President of the United States has also threatened some of his European allies with new customs duties in the motor vehicle industry, thus widening the gap between him and the European continent. He said : “Frankly, the European Commission is much tougher than China. I say this with great respect, but that is the reality. Europeans have been taking advantage of us for a long time. We really need to negotiate an agreement. Otherwise something else will have to be put in place. But I think they will want an agreement. They never wanted to negotiate with my predecessors, but they will negotiate with me.”
In addition, Donald Trump described a country that he found in ruins when he came to the White House three years ago as a paradise, “a geyser of opportunity” that you can hear “roaring.” He has embarked on a long litany of more and more shimmering figures on job creation, falling unemployment and rising wages, signs of “an economic boom like the world has never seen before”.
He also insisted that a strong and forward-looking economy could, through innovation, meet all challenges.
Read also > Macron and Trump find agreement to avoid taxes
