The World Economic Forum is an annual get-together of the elite class at the Swiss mountains of Davos to discuss issues of global interest such as poverty, inequality, innovation, change in technology, the environment and corporate social responsibility. 

From being a humble and small gathering of people, it has not attracted as many as 3,000 of the richest and powerful people in the world to participate in panel discussions and find solutions. There are politicians like Angela Merkel, Theresa May, Justin Trudeau, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump attending; heads of the world’s largest companies like Carlos Ghosn (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi) and Marc Benioff (Salesforce); there are even the senior leaders of bodies like the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and bosses of central banks. The WEF also extends its invitations to heads of charities, trade unions, academics and non-governmental organizations. 

Does the union of the elites talking to other elites by flying to a ski-resort in their private jets and chartered flights help solve the problems pertaining to the common man? No, it does not. Davos is hypocrisy in itself.

Here we thought that the whole objective of the United Nations was to make decisions and take actions to solve the issues which currently threaten the world, that the global representatives of every country were the face of their own country to put forward their own interests and yet join hands to resolve some major problems. Sure, the intelligent and bright minds of the world may come up with some new solutions in such an informal event (and once even signed a treaty to avoid war in Turkey and Greece in 1998) but who would ensure the execution of those plans? Who governs these decisions?

The probability for the businessmen to attend is more for their prospects to network than for anything more than that. The meeting can be compared to a premium club of the elites where they party and stay in luxury to discuss the hardships of those who cannot share their level of extravagantly spending money. As Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, had said that Davos represents a kind of nefarious elite conspiracy against the world’s powerless.

Environmentalists have especially called out on the hypocrisy that the WEF poses with its concern over climate change. Had they been as concerned as they portrayed themselves to be, they would not be discussing climate by leaving behind a massive carbon footprint every year, whose 90% cause is transportation alone. The Chennai-based environmentalist rightly believes that the reduction of carbon footprints and solutions to climate change cannot come from the ‘rich and the elite’ who are a small portion of the world population and yet “enjoy a lion’s share of resources from the present and the future.”

The remote location of Davos makes the use of the jets necessary but had the issue been so burning to the elite class, they would have decided to meet on more neutral grounds. They would have discussed what they had to in a manner where the whole world would be able to feel that our leaders care about us to a great extent. Involving the population and getting to know their specific needs would be a more efficient solution to the purpose of Davos than for those who are wrapped in expensive coats to talk about those who are in rags or live a life of hardship just to be able to feed all the mouths in their families.