Sustainability proves key issue at Davos 2021
Davos – the World Economic Forum's annual meeting – kicked off on January 25, 2021, and after two days of online talks about the pandemic, attention was put on climate change.
Day three was filled with presentations about how to save the planet, from transforming food systems to turning the Amazon rainforest into the world’s first “bioeconomy” with specific jobs that will help restore its delicate ecosystem.
A conversation with Bill Gates concluded the event, and he talked about ways to scale carbon markets, carbon-negative goals and net-zero carbon buildings. Gates is a huge advocate for clean energy and his company Breakthrough Energy fosters innovation in sustainable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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During Davos, Gates specified that a lot of work needs to be done to support sustainable designs like “green cement, green steel, green fuel… [to] get the entire market of those products to shift to green.”
“If a green product is a very high price, there’s no market for it,” he said. “To be net-zero by 2050, all the products that middle-income countries buy, for shelter and lighting and transport, are going to have to come in such a small premium that they’re willing to shift all of the purchasing.”
Gates also noted a shift that is happening with many big tech companies seeking to lower their environmental impact. Microsoft has committed to being carbon-negative across its supply chain and products by 2030, and Apple is striving to be carbon-neutral by then too. Amazon has pledged by 2040 to be net-zero carbon across its whole business.
“A lot of companies are taking carbon into account as they make decisions,” he said. “They are going to stay away from investments that are generating carbon.”
Renewable energy like wind and solar power will help reach these goals, as well as offsetting emissions by financially supporting natural habitats. Gates said however that some carbon offsetting strategies, like planting trees, “are very complicated”.
Joining Gates’ forecast about the importance of green technologies and renewable energy on the economy is American-Canadian venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, who is a former Facebook executive. "The big disruption that's coming is to power utilities,” he said. “There are trillions of dollars of bonds, of capital expenditure, of value sitting inside the energy-generation infrastructure of the world that is gonna go upside down.” Palihapitiya believes the first trillionaire will be someone working in cheap renewable energy.
The Davos Agenda ended on January 29 with concluding talks about advancing global and regional cooperation. After 50 years of being hosted in-person in Davos, Switzerland, this was the first year it was held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its tagline – “The Great Reset” – was about managing the pandemic’s impact, and its consequences, for a more sustainable future.
