The World Economic Forum starts on Tuesday in Davos, Switzerland, with 65 world leaders, including US president Donald Trump, expected to attend it. President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice-Premier of the People’s Republic of China He Lifeng are also expected.
The annual conference, to conclude on January 23, is being held this year against a backdrop of mounting concerns created mostly by recent US actions or those related to it, affecting the economy as much as global climate scenario. The main concerns are the recent US threat to acquire Greenland, its abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the instability in Iran.
Trump tremors
Trump had exhorted US business houses to stark work on extracting oil in Venezuela after Maduro’s abduction in early January, which has the largest reserves of oil in the world. Greenland is the latest territory Trump is eyeing to “acquire”, apparently for “national and world security”.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026, released on January 14 in Geneva, had pointed at the nature of the problems the world is likely to face in the near future. The report points out that “geoeconomic confrontation emerges as the top risk for the year, followed by interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization and misinformation and disinformation”.
Financial markets are watching the Davos developments closely after Trump’s recent attack on the independence of the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, which, many feel, may have backfired.
Clean energy surge
Concerns are rising also over the Trump administration’s aggressive pursuit of the fossil fuel economy, when the world is moving towards renewables. The US is pursuing an oil-first policy, but in many parts of the world, solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles are the drivers of growth with the comparative cost of renewables favouring the trend.
According to the International Energy Agency’s estimates, last year US dollar 2.2 trillion got invested in clean technologies, while about US dollar 1.1 trillion was invested in oil, gas and coal.
Trump on Saturday had threatened that he would impose tariffs on eight European countries, if they did not support him to acquire Greenland.
Fossil fuel step to backfire?
“Dialogue is not a luxury in times of uncertainty; it is an urgent necessity,” said Børge Brende, president and CEO, World Economic Forum. “At a critical juncture for international cooperation — marked by profound geoeconomic and technological transformation — this year’s Annual Meeting will be one of our most consequential,” he added before the meeting.
Some experts feel that despite the US moves and future plans, the effort to push fossil fuel, it may not work. They feel the movement towards clean energy is unlikely to reverse, and the developments in Venezuela and Iran may actually prompt the world to move towards faster. A survey by 350.org and ZeroCarbonAnalytics found that 81 per cent of global oil reserves and 68 per cent of global oil production belong to US’s sphere of influence.
Indian angle
World Economic Forum president Brende has stressed about India’s fast-growing economy and its potential to negotiate global trade agreements, such as the India-EU trade deal.
India will participate with one of its largest delegations at the forum, with at least four union ministers: Ashwini Vaishnaw (IT and railways), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (agriculture), Prahlad Joshi (renewable energy), and K Rammohan Naidu (civil aviation); and, at least six chief ministers, Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), A Revanth Reddy (Telangana) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) participating in Davos.
The Indian delegation also has over 100 CEOs including Mukesh Ambani from Reliance Industries, as well as business honchos from Tata Group, Bajaj, Axis Bank. It is claimed that new investments are expected, including in energy and Artificial Intelligence.