Loading
Vector Center
  • Our Solutions
    • Perception Reality Engine
    • Intelligence Projects
    • Advisory Services
  • Leadership
    • J. Carl Ganter, CEO
    • Matthew Welch, COO
    • Cody Pope, CINO
    • Rohit Adlakha, Advisor
    • Aubrey Blanche, Advisor
    • Ian Bremmer, Advisor
    • Paul Fleming, Advisor
    • Jon Grant, Advisor
    • Alon Halevy, Advisor
    • Lyndsay C. Howard, Advisor
    • Måns Hultman, Advisor
    • Leland Maschmeyer, Advisor
    • Jennifer Möller-Gulland, Advisor
    • Lauren Moores, Advisor
    • Will Sarni, Advisor
    • Aaron Salzberg, Advisor
    • Frank Savage, Advisor
    • Steve Trippe, Advisor
  • News
  • Contact
  • Menu
World Economic Forum Davos 2020J. Carl Ganter

The Road to Davos: There Be Dragons Ahead

February 11, 2020/in In the News /by J. Carl Ganter

Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old climate activist, was not in a mingling mood during her second visit to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. We are failing, she scolded. Scientific indicators are sounding the alarm that windows for climate action continue to close.

How will we activate necessary global shifts with the necessary pace and tenacity?

Under the crystal blue skies of Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders and CEOs rubbed elbows at the Forum’s 50th anniversary annual meeting, there was a new level of sub-aural, low-frequency unrest shaking the foundational structures of the status quo, particularly for climate change. I found angst and worry just below the surface of most events and sessions. 

Whether it was a workshop on the pros and cons of deep-sea ocean mining to our own session, “Designing Water’s Future,” there was sense of impending action. Companies are jockeying to define a new economy based on foresight, innovation, and shaping a better world in the face of existential risks. Microsoft promised a “decarbonized” future, and Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest investment fund manager, put climate change as the top influencer for the firm’s investment decisions. 

A few days earlier, at the DLD Conference (Digital, Life and Design) in Munich the theme, “What are you adding?” was refreshingly provocative for a gaggle of tech entrepreneurs, investors, A.I. visionaries, and media mavens. This time, the audience was fair game, not allowed to watch panels and presentations with passivity. “What are you adding?,” rippled through each speech, including my own. How will talents and resources combine to shift the world’s dangerous course?

On the streets of Davos, participants wondered if it would be a year when billionaires fiddled while the world burns. Or are we truly on the cusp of an era when values align with value, perception can once again be based on reality, and we can use the greatest tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in services for the earth? 

These are the questions we strive to answer every day for our clients. 

What are you adding?

-J. Carl Ganter, CEO Vector Center

Davos observations from colleague Nik Gowing and Vector Center advisor Will Sarni.

Reflections on Davos: Who solves ‘wicked problems’?

The huge new business imperative from Davos on climate change

 

Tags: Davos, J. Carl Ganter, wef, world economic forum
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://vector-center.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5563-01-scaled.jpg 1842 2560 J. Carl Ganter https://vector-center.com/wp-content/uploads/vc-logo-tiny.png J. Carl Ganter2020-02-11 18:22:542020-02-11 18:23:48The Road to Davos: There Be Dragons Ahead
You might also like
Cross-country skiing in an empty Times Square, New York, in 2016. Extreme weather events topped list of most likely risks to profoundly affect the world in the next 10 years. Photo by Cody Pope/Vector Center. Perceiving Risk in an Ever-Changing World: The 2018 WEF Global Risks Report
Jani Brumat, South Africa Dam The Moment for a Global Water Movement
World Economic Forum Spotlights Vector Center's CEO
An Update from the CEO: A Moment of Relevancy — Imperative Direction from a Dozen Years in Davos
Urumqi, China Vector Center is The Innovator's Startup of the Week
Participants roll up their sleeves to map new “ways for water” during a work session at the World Economic Forum India Economic Summit. (Photo: World Economic Forum) "Ways to Water," J. Carl Ganter, Vector Center’s CEO, Moderates WEF Session
A Tale of Four COPs: How business is resetting expectations for climate response
Jakarta Indonesia A Day Zero City in Profile: Jakarta

Recent Posts

  • Water Data Dialogues with Stanford University
  • People, Planet, Profitability: We Need Faster Ways to Save the World Together
  • A Tale of Four COPs: How business is resetting expectations for climate response
  • Good COP, Bad COP? A Dispatch from Glasgow
  • Vector Center CEO J. Carl Ganter Discusses Climate Change, Water, and the Future of Doing Business

Archives

  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017

Categories

  • In the News
  • News
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy

Connect

engagement@vector-center.com

Learn More

Perception Reality Engine

Intelligence Projects

Advisory Support

Our Team

Leadership

Advisors

© 2021 vector center - all rights reserved | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | engagement@vector-center.com
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
Vector Center Receives Microsoft’s AI for Earth Grant Urumqi, China Vector Center is The Innovator’s Startup of the Week
Scroll to top