World Economic Forum: Davos Braces for Political Drama as the World Warms
As world leaders and chief executives made their final preparations to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, fires in Los Angeles sent shock waves across the financial world.Images of America’s second-largest city aflame were a visceral reminder of the growing threats posed by climate change.Insurance companies were girding for billions of dollars in losses.
Hollywood was warning of disrupted production schedules.Cities around the globe were re-evaluating their vulnerabilities.And the economic and political leaders headed to Davos were bracing for a week’s worth of discussions about how to adapt to a warming world while confronting two new realities: The world is the hottest it’s ever been, and Donald J.
Trump will once again be president of the United States.The heat is now inescapable.Last year was officially the warmest in recorded history.
Each of the 10 hottest years on record has come in the past decade.This week, the World Economic Forum identified extreme weather as one of the top global risks.And Mr.
Trump, too, will be unavoidable in Davos, even if he is not there in person.(He is expected to give a speech in a virtual appearance on Thursday.)“Trump is a magnetic force that does not escape Davos,” said Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce and a fixture of the annual gathering.
“Davos will only be talking about one thing, which is Donald Trump as president of the United States and what it means for the world.”What it means for the world remains to be seen.Even before he takes office, Mr.
Trump is injecting a new level of uncertainty onto the global stage by roiling longstanding alliances and raising fears of new trade wars with his threat of steep tariffs.Yet the implications for a second Trump administration on the climate are more straightforward.Mr.Trump has called for a rapid expansion of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal.
He has pledged to roll back investments in clean energy tha...