The other 51 weeks: what happens before and after Davos?

For many people watching the Davos public programme, it can seem overwhelming. Much like a COP or G20, it can be hard to relate to any tangible outcomes. There are around 300 sessions covering a plethora of topics, from EV supply chains to the global debt burden, and from carbon pricing to reinventing retirement.

Accords and initiatives are announced, pledges made, and prognoses given. But it’s what happens during the other 51 weeks of the year that the impact of the meeting and the World Economic Forum gathers speed.

Davos, like the Forum itself, is a sum of many parts. It is the hard work of thousands of people year-round – whether they are a business leader advocating for change, a Forum expert managing an initiative or one of the many individuals who make up its communities worldwide and take action locally – that generate the progress that ultimately makes a difference in the world. Many face hurdles made all the more difficult by the current challenging geopolitical and security environment, but they are united in trying their best to deliver change for the better.

The Forum seeds hundreds of ongoing initiatives. Some of these remain managed by expert teams in house, others take on a life of their own. One of the best examples of this is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. What began as an idea to reverse declining immunization rates resulting from unaffordable vaccines, has, 25 years later, become an international network, responsible for vaccinating more than one-half of the world’s children.

Davos has witnessed the launch of scores of initiatives in its more than 50-year history. Here are some of the most memorable in recent years – and ones that are already having a sizeable effect.

Giving to Amplify Earth Action (2023)

Tackling the issue of unlocking climate finance, GAEA has spent the past year raising awareness of what it describes as the ‘4P approach’ – public, private and philanthropic partnerships. By bringing philanthropy into the more traditional public-private dynamic, not only is this initiative helping give rise to new funding streams, but also a different mindset and type of expertise.

Broadly, philanthropies are typically more comfortable with the risk of trialling new ideas and providing seed capital, which offers a good basis on which to then bring in private capital and a public-sector partner to construct the enabling environment.

During Davos 2025, the initiative will reach a new milestone with the launch of the GAEA Awards, celebrating the successes of the scheme since its founding.

Cybercrime Atlas Initiative (2023)

Cybercrime is as ubiquitous as the internet users on which it feeds. A significant problem for those tackling cybercrime is its pervasive, yet disjointed nature. Typically, cybercriminals operate without borders, and yet often, measures to counter them are localized.

Out of this problem emerged the Cybercrime Atlas, which as the name suggests, seeks to map the cybercriminal ecosystem. Using open-source research, the Forum’s team is piecing together cybercriminal groups’ activities and structures worldwide, which in turn, makes them easier to disrupt.

Mission Possible (Davos Agenda Week 2021)

Decarbonizing the world’s most hard-to-abate sectors is a primary challenge for policy-makers. Without major progress in this area, we will struggle to meet net-zero targets. With this in mind, the Forum helped launch the Mission Possible Partnership, an alliance of climate leaders seeking to supercharge efforts within a decade.

The Forum is now one of four partners, the others being the Energy Transitions Commission, RMI and We Mean Business Coalition, offering support to a community that includes the CEOs of carbon-intensive industries, and their financiers, suppliers and customers, to agree ways to decarbonize industry and transport.

EDISON Alliance (2021)

In the spirit of inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison, the forefather of electric power generation, the EDISON Alliance seeks to provide equitable access to the digital economy.

With a focus on education, financial inclusion and health, the Alliance is working with academia, business, civil society and policy-makers to address the challenges of improving access to the internet, making data and smart devices affordable, and facilitating digital literacy.

One Trillion Trees (2020)

As the name suggests, the goal of this global initiative is to grow, restore and conserve one trillion trees around the world. Activity takes place in many countries, but there is a focus on areas that are home to large percentages of forest, including Canada, Europe, Mexico and the US.

Forests are vital to planetary health, helping to sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures, recharge groundwater, and act as flood barriers. The aim is to restore this element of biodiversity, in turn, countering climate change.

Reskilling Revolution (2020)

The workplaces we inhabit and the jobs that we do are changing exponentially in an era defined by the rapid growth and development of emerging technologies. Millions of new opportunities are emerging, but access is unequal and many are finding their livelihoods at risk.

Reskilling and upskilling is already invaluable to current and future education and job prospects, and with this in mind, the Reskilling Revolution aims to empower one billion people with better education, skills and with this, economic opportunity, by 2030.

UpLink (2020)

Inventors and early-stage entrepreneurs rarely have the finances or business networks to bring their ideas to life, and yet in an era where innovation is essential to tackling climate-related challenges, their potential solutions are vital.

UpLink is a platform that seeks to marry eco ideas with support. Innovation challenges are regularly posted, and a team of subject experts, investors and partner organizations assess the viability of these before selecting a number of winning entries. These then appear on UpLink with the ambition to be nurtured into action.

Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South (2021)

Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are set to represent 90% of the growth in global energy demand by 2035, while hosting the lion's share of the global population. Yet, to date, they account for less than one-fifth of global clean energy investments.

Since its launch in Davos, the Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South’s 45+ members, have shed light on 100+ concrete policy interventions, de-risking tools, and finance mechanisms that can help increase capital for clean energy in the Global South. These were compiled in the Playbook of Solutions, launched by the World Economic Forum at the occasion of and as a direct contribution to 2024's G20 and Clean Energy Ministerial Meetings, in October.