The World Economic Forum (WEF), held in Davos, concluded this Thursday (26), with warnings about the economy, war and hunger that will make the world look bleak in the coming months.
Weapons for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the guest of honor on the first day of the conference on Monday, calling for a full trade embargo and possible “maximum” sanctions on Russia, including oil and gas, via videoconference.
Three months after the Russian invasion and as the bombings intensify in the eastern part of Donbass, Ukraine preferably wants heavy weapons. It’s a demand that the great national delegation has been demanding everywhere in Davos this week.
Zelensky criticized the international community for its slow response, saying that “the result would have been tens of thousands of lives saved” if he had obtained all the weapons he claimed in February. Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba even accused NATO of “doing absolutely nothing” against the invasion.
Third World war
It’s a tradition in Davos: at a dinner between the meeting, the American billionaire George Soros once again expressed his view on the state of the world.
“Infestation [da Ucrânia pela Rússia] “It could be the beginning of the Third World War and our civilization may not survive,” he said.
In addition to pointing to what he calls “two dictators” – Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jiping – he also targeted former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he says “private deals” are one of the reasons for Europe’s “extremism”. “Dependence on Russian gas.
Clouds on the horizon of the world economy
“The horizon is dark” for the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Monday.
Inflation is rising, central banks are tightening their stances, public debt is rising and China is slowing down.
To a recession point? In developed countries this is “not on the horizon right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the question,” Georgieva said.
The return of hunger riots?
According to World Food Program (WFP) director David Beasley, “conditions are worse today than they were in 2007-2008, when the food riots took place”.
Partly due to the war in Ukraine and the inhibition of grain exports. Achim Steiner, director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), talks about more than 200 million people in the world suffering from acute hunger.
“When people can no longer feed themselves, when governments can no longer provide food, politics quickly takes to the streets,” he warned.
A situation that particularly affects Latin America, which has entered a “very dangerous period” due to inflation, warned Venezuelan Moisés Naím, an international political analyst, of “the economic and social consequences that could be disastrous.”
forgotten climate
The war in Ukraine should not be used as an “excuse” to slacken energy transition efforts, US climate envoy John Kerry said on Tuesday.
“While we are dealing with the climate crisis, we can deal with the Ukraine crisis and the energy crisis,” he said.
Paul Simpson also acknowledged that, given fears over Russian hydrocarbon supplies and rising prices, “some risk burning more coal in the short term.”
The director of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a leading organization in measuring the environmental performance of companies and governments, is confident that the energy supply debate can “accelerate the transition” to renewable energy.
source: Noticias
