<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="428" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-820x428.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-422495" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-820x428.webp 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-300x157.webp 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-160x84.webp 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-768x401.webp 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0-1536x802.webp 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/responsive_big_webp_3RTr8VzTuhQeqRRkAlTO-0f90NLSfzArX2-Ucr6mtn0.webp 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Climate changes to the water cycle are threatening global water security. Innovative start-ups can help solve this urgent problem. Image: Pexels</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 18 January 2023&nbsp;– Securing the world’s global freshwater ecosystems, under increasing threat from climate change, population growth and consumer demand, has become more critical than ever. To tackle this escalating crisis, UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, in partnership with global conglomerate HCL Group, has announced 10 water-focused entrepreneurs who will share CHF1.75 million ($1.9 million) from HCL Group to scale their innovations.



Access to water plays a critical role in food production, education, job creation, health and well-being and the preservation of the natural world and is vital to achieving the UN’s 2030 sustainability agenda. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/options-decoupling-economic-growth-water-use-and-water-pollution" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">global demand for water will exceed sustainable supply by 40% by 2030,</a>&nbsp;with huge implications for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/08/20/worsening-water-quality-reducing-economic-growth-by-a-third-in-some-countries#:~:text=The%20report%20finds%20that%20a,key%20factor%20for%20economic%20growth" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">global economy</a>&nbsp;and society.



The 10 start-ups are the winners of the&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o0000173B6sAAE/global-freshwater-challenge" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Global Freshwater Innovation Challenge</a>, the first of five challenges under HCL and UpLink’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/press/2022/05/new-collaboration-seals-15-million-funding-for-entrepreneurs-to-tackle-freshwater-crisis/">Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative</a>. Launched in September 2022, the challenge called for innovative solutions that would strengthen data-driven decision making, improve freshwater resilience in the face of climate change and restore water quality around the world.



Through a&nbsp;<a>$15 million investment over five years</a>, HCL Group is supporting UpLink and&nbsp;<a href="https://initiatives.weforum.org/global-water-initiative/innovation" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the Forum’s Global Water Initiative</a>&nbsp;to launch a series of innovation challenges and create an innovation ecosystem for the global freshwater sector on UpLink.



The 10 water-focused entrepreneurs, or “aquapreneurs”, were chosen from 227 solutions submitted to the challenge, and will now each receive CHF175,000 ($190,000) in vital funding from HCL Group. Two of these innovators were selected to present their solutions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUXHFAA4/epic-cleantec-onsite-water-treatment-and-reuse">Epic Cleantec</a>, based in the US, is a water technology company leading the water reuse revolution in the urban built environment. Aaron Tartakovsky, CEO of Epic Cleantec,said: “With the combined challenges of ageing infrastructure, growing urban populations and a rapidly changing climate, the conventional approach to how we manage water is no longer sustainable. Epic is on a mission to ensure that our cities are water-secure for generations to come.” Epic aims to use its next-generation technologies to drive circularity in water use and to work with policy-makers to reshape the water infrastructure in cities.</li>



<li><a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pURnNAAW/kilimo-paying-farmers-to-save-water">Kilimo</a>, based in Argentina, uses big data and machine learning to verify, improve, and offset water usage in agriculture. Tatiana Malvasio, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer,said: “As founders from Latin America, we have first-hand experience with the tension between agriculture and water stress in our region. In response to this challenge, we set out to create a product that could help farmers reduce their water usage and be more efficient in their irrigation practices.” Kilimo uses artificial intelligence to help farmers optimize irrigation and then be compensated for their participation in water stewardship initiatives.</li>
</ul>



The other entrepreneurs to be awarded prize money from HCL and support from UpLink are:



1.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUYfCAAW/safe-water-anytime-anywhere" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">bNovate Technologies</a>&nbsp;(Switzerland) – An automatic, remote biosensor to monitor and detect bacterial concentration in water supplies



2.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUWbnAAG/electrically-driven-decentralized-treatment-of-water-for-reuse" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Indra Water</a>&nbsp;(India) – Electrically driven, decentralized wastewater treatment solution with no added chemicals in its primary treatment



3.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pURV6AAO/decentralised-and-renewable-water-source-for-arid-and-semi-arid-regions" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Majik Water Technologies</a>&nbsp;(Kenya) – An atmospheric water generator system that uses proven condensation-based techniques to capture water moisture from the air



4.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUYqOAAW/aquanurch-combining-nature-intelligence-and-artificial-intelligence" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NatureDots Private Limited</a>: AquaNurch (India) – Derisking fisheries and water managers from ecological stressors, enabling remote-control and real-time monitoring of aqua-farms



5.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUVTaAAO/wavepowered-sustainable-and-affordable-desalination-solutions" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Oneka Technologies</a>&nbsp;(Canada) – A wave-powered desalination solution to produce drinking water using renewable energy created through waves



6.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUSY9AAO/providing-safe-water-through-microfranchising-and-engineering" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Openversum</a>&nbsp;(Switzerland) – A locally assembled and managed membrane filter that removes pathogen heavy metals from water



7.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUWd5AAG/resilience-restoration-and-decision-making-propertybased-retention-and-reuse" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">RainGrid Inc.</a>&nbsp;(Canada) – Building community-scale, property-based, digital networks for net-zero residential property rainfall runoff while generating verifiable ecosystem credits



8.&nbsp;<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-contribution/a012o00001pUYfqAAG/scaling-adoption-for-portable-water-filtration-device" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Wateroam Pte Ltd</a>&nbsp;(Singapore) – Production of safe, speedy and high-quality drinking water without electricity



“We are delighted to announce the first beneficiaries of the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative who have been selected after rigorous deliberation among a large panel of experts,” said Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCLTech. “The availability of fresh water is rapidly changing worldwide, creating a tenuous future requiring attention from policy-makers, the private sector and the public alike. Having witnessed the efforts of aquapreneurs who are finding solutions to challenges around existing freshwater resources, I am positive that we are all moving in the right direction for the future of our planet. Many congratulations to the top 10 awardees.”



“These innovations are crucial to meet the increasing global demand for clean water and support the transition to a greener economy,” said Olivier Schwab, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “With water scarcity threatening countries all around the world, it’s essential to identify and empower the innovative start-ups that will help secure access to this precious resource, now and for future generations. The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative, launched by UpLink and HCL, will connect these world-class innovators to the resources, expertise and vital funding they need to scale and drive truly transformational change.”

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10 Entrepreneurs Share CHF 1.75 million to Tackle Global Freshwater Crisis

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</div></figure>



Moderated by CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore, top business leaders discuss at Davos, Switzerland, the&nbsp;impact the green transition, technological advances, demographics and reorganized value chains could have on labor markets.



Joining CNBC is José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman and CEO of Telefonica, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, director-general of the ILO, Martin J. Walsh, the Secretary of Labor for the U.S., Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director at the ITC, and Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the World Economic Forum.

107179019-1673884219238-gettyimages-1246273711-SWITZERLAND-DAVOS-WORLD_ECONOMIC_FORUM-PREPARATION

Top business leaders and policymakers discuss the future of jobs at the World Economic Forum

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422486" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179388-1673963136581-Kuna_bitcoin_car_full.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The orange Mercedes was parked along the Promenade in Davos. Nobody in the vicinity saw who parked it there. The license plate says “Kuna” on it, which is the name of a Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange. Arjun Kharpal | CNBC</figcaption></figure>



DAVOS, Switzerland — Over the past few years at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the number of cryptocurrency industry attendees has boomed.



But after a near $1.4 trillion wipeout in 2022, the crypto industry is being a bit more reserved with how it splashes the cash and several companies spotted last year are not in attendance. 2022 was marked by failed crypto projects, liquidity issues and bankruptcies, topped off by the collapse of major exchange FTX.



When the World Economic Forum was held last May,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CM=/">bitcoin</a>&nbsp;was hovering around $30,000, after having already fallen more than 50% from its all-time high hit in November 2021. More pain followed with bitcoin dipping as low as $15,480.



The Promenade is the main street in Davos where companies and governments take over shops and cafes for the week. Last year, crypto firms from all walks of life&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/24/crypto-firms-take-over-main-street-in-davos-even-after-market-crash.html">took over the place</a>. But since the market slide, there are far fewer crypto firms with flashy store fronts at Davos.



One shop selling non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, has disappeared. Prices of NFTs, which are digital collectibles, also plunged last year. What’s left are companies that survived the bear market and that are looking to expand their businesses.



“It’s very clear that the speculation period is drawing to a close and every company that you see featured … is really focused on real-world use cases,” said Teana Baker-Taylor, vice-president of policy and regulatory strategy at Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin.



A stablecoin is a type of digital currency that is supposed to be pegged one-to-one with a fiat currency. USDC is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Circle says it is backed with real-world assets such as U.S. Treasurys so that one USDC can be redeemed for $1.



Casper Labs, a company that has built a blockchain designed to be used by businesses, is running a space on the Promenade called the Blockchain Lab. Casper Labs was also present last year in Davos.



Cliff Sarkin, chief of strategic relations at Casper Labs, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the crypto market has bottomed.



“So we’re over a year into the bear market, so I think the shock of that is settled in and for those of us that have been in the space for years … we feel like this is the time to build,” Sarkin told CNBC.



He added that the crypto firms that have remained at Davos are “substantiative projects” and “the real deals” versus things like NFTs.



There were also those in traditional finance who welcomed fewer crypto firms.



Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, was asked during an event hosted by the Swiss bank what he would like to see in Davos this year. He said he had seen it already: “It’s&nbsp;less crypto on the main street.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-mysterious-case-of-the-orange-bitcoin-car"><a></a>The mysterious case of the orange bitcoin car</h2>



On Monday, a flashy bright orange Mercedes-Benz car was parked outside of the Blockchain Hub on the Promenade.



A coin that represented a bitcoin was placed where the Mercedes-Benz logo would usually be. On the tires and the licenses plate, the words “in crypto we trust” were printed. The license plate had the Ukrainian flag on it and the name Kuna, which is the company behind a cryptocurrency exchange of the same name.



Kuna also set up the “reserve fund of Ukraine” after the war with Russia began where people could donate crypto to Ukraine.



People in the vicinity that CNBC spoke to could not verify who parked the car there.



However, two crypto executives who spoke to CNBC did not welcome the orange car, particularly after the market crash and the excesses of the industry were exposed. One remarked that the presence of such a car was not helpful for the industry’s reputation which took a hit last year.



CNBC reached out to Semen Kaploushenko, CEO of the Kuna exchange, via LinkedIn, but is yet to receive a response.



CNBC also reached out to the Blockchain Association of Ukraine which Kuna founder Michael Chobanian is the president of, but is yet to receive a response.

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$1.4 trillion wipeout hits crypto industry at Davos — except for a lone flashy orange bitcoin car

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422427" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo the World Economic Forum (WEF) on a window at the Congress Center in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, 17 January 2023 –&nbsp;The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship announced today 16 awardees for social innovation in 2023. The 2023 Social Innovators of the Year includes a list of outstanding founders and chief executive officers, multinational and regional business leaders, government leaders and recognized experts. The list includes a Nigerian entrepreneur supporting smallholder farmers increase profits and turning at-risk young people into entrepreneurs; a New York-based pioneer of “open hiring” that helps individuals facing barriers to meaningful employment by offering work with no interviews, no background checks and no resumés; and a Brazilian collective network of more than 70 organizations in 14 countries that monitors land use and change to promote the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources and fight climate change. The awardees were selected in recognition of their innovative approach and potential for global impact by Schwab Foundation Board members. The selection committee includes Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark (2011-2015), and social innovation expert Johanna Mair, Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership at the Hertie School of Governance in Germany, and H.M. Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Honorary Board Member. “The Social Innovators of the Year 2023 represent a generation of social and environmental change leaders who demonstrate that innovative models of cooperation and action across sectors are critical to making progress on the complex challenges we face,” said&nbsp;Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. This year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting marks the 25th anniversary of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. In 1998 Hilde Schwab, together with her husband Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, created the foundation to support new models for social change, combining values and dedication with the best business principles to create a more just, sustainable and equitable world. Today, the foundation has a thriving community of over 450 global social entrepreneurs that has impacted the lives of nearly 1 billion people in 190 countries. The entrepreneurs offer access to healthcare, education, housing, finance, digital skills and advocacy networks resulting in job creation economic opportunity, improved health and stability. “Complex problems cannot be tackled by single organizations, and this year’s Schwab Foundation awardees show new models of collaborating across sectors using innovative technology, human networks and shared resources and knowledge. Many social innovators have a long history of working in collaboration with others. The ambition now is in creating systemic change through collective efforts,” said&nbsp;François Bonnici, Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. The 2023 Schwab Foundation Awards are hosted in a long-term partnership with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.motsepefoundation.org/">Motsepe Foundation</a>, founded on the philosophy of “Ubuntu”, the African concept of giving and caring for your neighbour and other members of your community. “Social entrepreneurs act as a bridge that connects ethics and values to our business principles. I believe these entrepreneurs are designing a blueprint for meaningful economies by re-imagining progress during these uncertain times,” said Precious Moloi-Motsepe, Co-Chair, Motsepe Foundation and Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. The 2023 awardees are awarded across four categories: Social entrepreneurs Pioneering systemic solutions for social and environmental challenges ranging from refugee family reunification and human rights to water infrastructure and financial inclusion.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Ady Beitler, CEO, Nilus (Argentina)&nbsp;– leads the Argentinian social enterprise that uses technology and sharing economy models to reduce food loss and waste. His organization&#8217;s mission is to alleviate hunger by lowering the cost of healthy food for those on low incomes – a goal it achieves by rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted and distributing it at discounted prices.</li>



<li>Aniket Doegar, CEO, Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions Private Limited (India)&nbsp;– has led the Indian social impact organization working on easing access to welfare for seven years. It digitized welfare schemes and provided application support to more than 120,000 people in low-income rural and urban communities.</li>



<li>Aref Husseini, CEO, Al Nayzak Foundation for Extra Curricular Education and Scientific Innovation (Palestine Territories)&nbsp;– challenging traditional teaching methods in the Palestinian education system to produce more students who are critical thinkers and who approach problem solving through research, analysis and scientific thinking.</li>



<li>Celina de Sola, President, Glasswing International (El Salvador)&nbsp;– empowers individuals and communities to address the root causes of poverty and violence through education and health programmes. Glasswing has expanded from its El Salvador base to 10 other countries and has impacted more than 1.5 million lives since 2007.</li>



<li>Joseph Kenner, CEO, Greyston (USA)&nbsp;– the New York-based pioneer of “open hiring” that helps individuals facing barriers to meaningful employment by offering work with no interviews, no background checks and no resumés. Best known for its bakery, Greyston is now expanding its reach and aims to provide open-hiring employment opportunities to 40,000 Americans by 2030.</li>



<li>Kola Masha, Managing Director, Babban Gona (Nigeria)&nbsp;– helps smallholder farmers increase profits and turns at-risk young people into entrepreneurs. Babban Gona’s unique technology platform helps farmers increase yields and aims to create millions of youth jobs, breaking a cycle of poverty and violence in rural communities.</li>



<li>Säbeen Haque, Executive Director, doctHERS (Pakistan)&nbsp;– connects female doctors to millions of under-served patients using digital technology through the innovative healthcare platform doctHERS. The online marketplace helps reintegrate women medical practitioners into the workforce and empowers marginalized communities by circumventing sociocultural barriers that can restrict access to healthcare.</li>
</ul>



Corporate Social Intrapreneurs: Leaders within multinational or regional companies who drive the development of new products, initiatives, services, or business models that address societal and environmental challenges.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Benoît Bonello, Social Innovation Director, SUEZ Group (France)&nbsp;– leading the company’s inclusive business approach with the goal of delivering a positive impact on society and the environment.</li>



<li>Kanika Pal, South Asia Sustainability Head, Hindustan Unilever (India)&nbsp;– an award-winning CSR and sustainability professional with over 17 years of experience, Pal quit the corporate sector from 2015 to 2017 and founded the Solutions for Clean and Healthy Environment Foundation to influence behaviour change for a cleaner planet.</li>
</ul>



Public Social Intrapreneurs: Leaders in the public sector, be it local or national governments or representatives of international organizations, who harness the power of social innovation and social entrepreneurship to create public good through policy, regulation, or public initiatives. The Schwab Foundation is the first of its kind to recognize public sector changemakers.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor, Freetown City Council (Sierra Leone) – committed to transforming the city’s services, infrastructure and environment using an inclusive data-driven approach. The mayor’s three-year Transform Freetown plan details 19 concrete targets in 11 sectors covering issues ranging from waste management to improving urban planning and tackling environmental degradation.</li>



<li>Bushra Al Mulla, Director General, Family Care Authority of Abu Dhabi (UAE)&nbsp;– has been a serial intrapreneur in the Abu Dhabi government and has transformed the lives of families, children and people with disabilities through integration of public services to establish a holistic approach to families, allowing them to live as empowered citizens in the emirate.</li>
</ul>



Collective Social Innovation: Organizations coming together to address complex problems that cannot be tackled by individual actors, leveraging pooled assets such as knowledge, innovative solutions, human capital, access to networks and communication channels.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>MapBiomas (Brazil), co-led by Tasso Azevedo, Founder and General Coordinator, Julia Shimbo, Scientific Coordinator, and Marcos Rosa, Technical Coordinator&nbsp;– a collaborative network of more than 70 organizations in 14 countries that monitors land use and land use change to promote the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources and fight climate change.&nbsp;</li>



<li>ProjectTogether (Germany), co-led by Philipp von der Wippel, Founder and Co-CEO, and Henrike Schlottmann, Co-CEO&nbsp;– an innovation platform based in Germany that supports the next generation in developing ground-breaking ideas from circular economy projects to climate-positive agriculture. to supporting refugees. It has supported more than 1,000 social pioneers and built a network of over 500 volunteer coaches and 400 experts.</li>



<li>Punjab Education Collective (India), co-led by Khushboo Awasthi, Chief Operating Officer of ShikshaLokam, Rucha Pande, Chief Operating Officer at Mantra4Change, and Simranpreet Oberoi, Co-Founder and Leader of Sanjhi Sikhiya&nbsp;– a collective of four organizations working to transform the public education system of the state of Punjab and improve educational standards against global benchmarks, impacting 2.3 million students across 19,000 government schools in Punjab.</li>



<li>Tamarack Institute (Canada), co-led by Liz Weaver and Danya Pastuszek, Co-CEOs&nbsp;– develops and supports collaborative strategies to fight poverty and solve major community issues mainly in Canada. The network has grown to more than 90 regional members, local non-profit or community associations, whose work impacts 22 million Canadians, equivalent to 58% of the country’s population.&nbsp;</li>



<li>WIEGO (Global), co-led by Sally Roever, International Coordinator (UK/US), Janhavi Dave, International Coordinator of HomeNet International (India), and Lorraine Sibanda, President of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (Zimbabwe)&nbsp;– a global network dedicated to improving the working conditions, rights, protection, economic opportunities and voice of all the working poor, particularly women, in the informal economy.</li>
</ul>

Preparations Ahead of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023

Social Innovators of the Year 2023: Creating Opportunities for Youth in Rural Nigeria and Protecting the Amazon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422474" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246297592-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Olena Zelenska, Ukraine&#8217;s first lady, delivers a special address on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January 2023 – Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, today called for the restoration of international law and the UN Charter. Speaking at the Opening Plenary of the 53rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, she told world leaders “deep inside we believe there is no global problem that humankind cannot resolve”.   Zelenska asked the gathering: “What if the sum of our influence doesn’t outweigh the Russian aggression?” She went on to say: “Our combined influence is bigger than the weight of our combined problems. That is why it is all the more important right now to use this influence when Russia’s invasion threatens a large-scale collapse of the world as we know it.”   She asked participants to imagine what could happen if tanks are allowed to strike at nuclear power stations; what could happen to inflation or the cost of living if tens of millions of Ukrainians are forced to become migrants; to climate neutrality when the world can’t stop Russia from burning entire cities in Ukraine. “In other words, what if the sum of our influence doesn’t outweigh the Russian aggression?” she said.   Zelenska called on world leaders to support her husband Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point proposal to end the war. This includes an end to hostilities, restoration of Ukraine’s borders with Russia, release of all prisoners and deportees, as well as assurance of food and energy security and justice.   Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, welcoming participants to the Annual Meeting, emphasized the need for cooperation “to create more cohesive societies where people can thrive”. He said: “We believe we can do it – through innovation, human goodwill and ingenuity. We have the capacity to turn the challenges into opportunities.”   Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, also underlined the need for a renewed global partnership on the transnational, civilizational challenges of climate change, pandemic, war and nuclear proliferation. He described the Annual Meeting as a place of “optimism, of can-do spirit”.   Ascribing the worldwide rise of populism to inequity, Berset said leaders, including at past Annual Meetings, have given more thought to efficiency and prosperity than to social fairness – within and between countries – causing already fragile states to weaken further. “First, by climate change and the pandemic, and then by the war in Ukraine,” he said.     Yet, as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made clear, the problems experienced by fragile states inevitably affect countries near and far. “In the form of migration, corruption, terrorism,” Berset said, adding: “We must do all we can to support fragile states – otherwise they risk becoming failed states.”   About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023</a> convenes the world’s foremost leaders under the theme Cooperation in a Fragmented World. It calls on world leaders to address immediate economic, energy and food crises while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world. For further information, please click <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">here</a>.

Opening Day of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023

Ukrainian First Lady Joins Swiss President in Opening Plenary of World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422411" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A frost-covered logo for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January 2023&nbsp;– The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/">World Economic Forum</a>, in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, today unveiled at its Annual Meeting 2023 a working prototype of its Global Collaboration Village, a purpose-driven metaverse where organizations can convene to learn about, create solutions for, and take action on the world’s most pressing challenges. With partners from&nbsp;<a href="https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/5nx27pbkb5uslbr3slcr80mvlh4xbwob">&nbsp;80 leading organizations</a>&nbsp;helping to shape the village’s development, participants from around the world joined the Forum in its first-ever interactive, multilateral session in the metaverse. “With the Global Collaboration Village, we are creating the first public purpose-oriented application of the metaverse technology, building a true global village in the virtual space. Supported by a unique range of partners from the public and private sectors, the Village will use the frontier capabilities of the metaverse to find solutions for addressing the big issues of our time in a more open, inclusive and sustained way,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Julie Sweet, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Accenture, added: “The metaverse will profoundly change every part of every business, bridging our physical and digital worlds, and over time will enable companies to create innovative new consumer products and services, transform their manufacturing and operations, and reimagine the way we collaborate and work.” Brad Smith, Vice-Chair and President, Microsoft Corporation, said, “We believe the metaverse has the potential to fundamentally change the way we communicate and collaborate, overcoming limitations of the physical world to deliver enhanced connections for everyone. The Global Collaboration Village, powered by Microsoft Mesh, is a prime example of how we can use metaverse technology to bring people and communities together in new ways.” About the Global Collaboration Village The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/global-collaboration-village">Global Collaboration Village</a>&nbsp;harnesses the power of the metaverse to create co-presence and connection for a more diverse and physically dispersed audience. Building on the proof of concept introduced in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/press/2022/05/world-economic-forum-unveils-virtual-global-collaboration-village-as-the-future-of-strong-public-private-cooperation?linkId=100000126739920">May 2022</a>, this innovative project,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/?p=268984">built on the mixed reality platform Microsoft Mesh</a>, includes a set of initial immersive spaces that can be accessed by a VR headset or laptop device. These include:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>A town hall: The Forum’s “Virtual Congress Centre” for future sessions or meetings, such as plenaries, workshops and bilaterals.</li>



<li>Collaborative centres: Virtual collaboration spaces for immersive storytelling and the Forum’s thought leadership, intended to inspire collaboration, experiential learning and real-world impact on global issues. For example, in a&nbsp;virtual ocean hub,&nbsp;participants can dive into the ocean’s depths and explore why and how marine ecosystems must be protected to preserve both life on land and in water.</li>



<li>Stakeholder campuses: Forum Partners can shape their presence, convene their stakeholders and partner with others to innovate and find solutions to global challenges.</li>
</ul>



Over the next year, the Forum will invite organizations to build in these immersive spaces to further bolster learning, collaboration and partnership. The initiative’s aim to strengthen and re-energize international cooperation is guided by four principles: global cooperation toward shared solutions; interactive immersion to foster better understanding; broad participation enabled by inclusive discussions; and individual and collective action as a catalyst for maximum impact. About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023&nbsp;</a>will convene the world’s foremost leaders under the theme Cooperation in a Fragmented World. Find out more about the Annual Meeting 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">here</a>.

World Economic Forum Establishes Purpose-driven Metaverse to Tackle World’s Most Pressing Challenges

We visited the driest place on the planet — the Atacama Desert in Chile #Shorts

Today, the World Climate Foundation is proud to announce our 2023 roadmaps for climate, biodiversity and health &#8211; From Davos to Dubai. This announcement follows our participation in&nbsp;Giving Nature a Seat at the Table&nbsp;at the ICEHouse&nbsp;and several other exciting engagements&nbsp;during the week in Davos.



Ahead of this week’s annual meetings in Davos, World Economic Forum released the Global Risks Report, highlighting the most serious environmental threats we could face in the next decade. In light of these risks, the World Climate Foundation continues its efforts to address the biggest challenges of our time. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="366" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54-820x366.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422467" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54-820x366.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54-300x134.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54-160x71.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54-768x343.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



Setting the Global Agenda for 2023 



2022 delivered a lot of turning points, but also truly emphasised, that there is no time to waste. Now, it’s time for real progress.



2030 Transition Targets &amp; a Net-Zero World by 2050&nbsp; Along with the global climate community and as a member of the Marrakech Partnership, we are getting ready for COP28 in Dubai. This will be an important step on the world’s path to implementing the Paris Agreement. We will build on the past years’ success in facilitating climate finance. As a proud partner of the Climate Investment Coalition, we supported the&nbsp;<a href="https://wclimate.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=66a416ac22573d7548b3e2305&amp;id=eea5e86fb2&amp;e=75d87a81ed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">US$130 billion total collective commitment at COP26</a>&nbsp;towards effective climate solution investments by 2030. This year, we will continue the work through&nbsp;<a href="https://wclimate.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=66a416ac22573d7548b3e2305&amp;id=949dc0edaa&amp;e=75d87a81ed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Climate Network</a>, fostering public-private partnerships, climate and nature investments to achieve the transition to a net-zero economy through year-round and alongside pivotal climate events.&nbsp;



Achieving a Nature-Positive Future The coming year will also be crucial to show how the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will be implemented in the years to come. Last year&nbsp;wrapped up on a high note with the adoption of the new framework at the UNCBD COP15,&nbsp;but now the work continues. Through World Biodiversity Summit and&nbsp;<a href="https://wclimate.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=66a416ac22573d7548b3e2305&amp;id=8bfea31dcd&amp;e=75d87a81ed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Biodiversity Network</a>, we will convene multi-sector&nbsp;stakeholders and decision makers to highlight best practices and&nbsp;scalable demonstration projects to achieve the implementation of the new Framework.



Building Resilient Systems for Health This will also be the year of WHO’s pandemic treaty. COVID-19 showed how vulnerable the world can be when facing global health crises. It is projected that more possible global health threats are on the horizon, exacerbated by climate change and increased stress on ecosystems. As&nbsp;a response to this, we are launching World Resilience Summit and&nbsp;<a href="https://wclimate.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=66a416ac22573d7548b3e2305&amp;id=2be07fcdd0&amp;e=75d87a81ed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Network</a>&nbsp;to support with establishing public-private partnerships and plans&nbsp;of action to find solutions to prevent future pandemics.

856c464c-d9e3-6c42-330d-19235dfe6c54

From Davos to Dubai – Our 2023 Roadmaps Towards a Net-Zero, Nature-Positive & Healthy Future

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422462" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246262502-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">DAVOS, SWITZERLAND &#8211; JANUARY 15: The WEF annual meeting to be held from January 16 to 20 in Davos, Switzerland on January 15, 2023. Under the theme of &#8220;Cooperation in a Fragmented World,&#8221; top figures shaping global politics and the business world will attend this weekâs 53rd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The meeting, which starts Monday, will bring together more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries including 50 heads of state or government, as multiple crises deepen divisions and fragment the geopolitical landscape. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January 2023 – Adoption of connected devices during the pandemic <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/risk/articles/impact-covid-cybersecurity.html">led to a dramatic increase in cyberattacks</a>. According to a new report launched today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, if left unchecked, the cost of cyberattacks will continue to rise, threatening a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/imf-cuts-global-growth-forecast-for-2023-warns-worst-is-yet-to-come.html">fragile global economy</a>.   The report, The State of the Connected World 2023 edition, a collaboration of the World Economic Forum with the <a href="https://weforum.org/connectedworld">Council on the Connected World</a>, says the immediate threats can be mitigated through robust security protocols and governance through public-private cooperation.   The State of the Connected World is the only global report that tracks and quantifies governance gaps for the universe of connected devices, known as the internet of things (IoT). The report surveyed 270 experts around the world to understand the state of play and establish clear priorities for technology governance.    “At a time when the global economy is fragile, we have the necessary tools to reduce at least one of the major threats to the global economy – cyberattacks,” said Jeff Merritt, Head of Urban Transformation, World Economic Forum. “The State of the Connected World report is a call to action for protecting against cybercrimes, which would also improve individual security and protect small and medium-sized business, transit systems, utilities – everything that relies on connected devices.”   “Our increasingly connected existence brings with it vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors,” said Akshay Joshi, Head of Industry and Partnerships, Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum. “Despite calls for embedding cybersecurity by design, the low level of confidence in the security of connected devices expressed by experts in this report is a testament to the fact that we still have a long way to go in terms of realizing trust in the technology we use.”   The report calls for increased consumer education through digital literacy campaigns, standardization practices of cybersecurity measures, prioritizing security by design and default (as opposed to reacting after the fact) and developing more agile policies to better address the quick-changing landscape of cybersecurity.   &#8220;We find ourselves at an inflection point this year with a number of global forces putting downward pressure on the economy,” said Madeline Carr, Professor of Global Politics and Cyber Security, Department of Computer Science, University College London. “It is essential that cybersecurity challenges are not left unchecked to further exacerbate this but are taken seriously as an integrated element of a thriving global economy.&#8221;   What other experts are saying:   “Open standards in technology have always led to greater innovation and greater consumer confidence. This year’s report from the Forum really emphasizes the importance of that direction. We’re very pleased to see the focus on privacy and security as a key priority. Solving for these ensures the greatest adoption of IoT, and the greatest likelihood of landing on valuable solutions for consumers in the ever-growing connected world.” Tobin Richardson, President and CEO, Connectivity Standards Alliance   “Planned spending on a security programme costs less than unplanned spending by 10 to 100 times, so it really makes sense now to evaluate and redouble your efforts to attain and maintain a mature programme. The year 2023 is predicted to deliver a perfect storm – from expected challenging economic conditions, ransomware up over 30% from last year, cyber insurance rates dramatically rising, coverage lowering, a severe skill and staff shortage, massive growth in vulnerable IoT connected devices and security products becoming the breach vector. Now is the time to redouble your focus on your security posture.” Peter Nicoletti, Field Chief Information Security Officer of the Americas, Check Point Software Technologies   “At Schneider Electric, we envision a fully connected, net-zero world which is more electrified, digitized and sustainable for future generations. To realize this future, businesses, organizations and governments must work together to address challenges such as cybersecurity, open standards and accessibility. I’m proud of our work with these stakeholders and the World Economic Forum and commit to continued vigilance to make the needed progress.”  Scott Harden, Chief Technology Officer, Innovation, Schneider Electric   “As the world gets more connected, complex and at times unpredictable, it is critical to drive and govern the change in a way that we not only address and mitigate risks but also emphasize the positive impact that connected technology brings.”  Anton Kotov, Chief Digital and Strategy Officer, ABB Electrification, ABB   “The ongoing advancement of emerging technologies highlights the importance of establishing strong governance to ensure safe and secure use of the technology. Security, privacy, trust and interoperability among IoT devices are serious issues that need to be addressed to accelerate IoT adoption and embrace a connected world. This can be achieved through collective action from the international community and by establishment of public-private partnerships. The 2023 report on the state of the connected world highlights the current gaps in governance and paves the path to address the associated risks for the benefit of humankind.”  Mariam Nouh, Vice-President of Economies of the Future Sector, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)   “In order to ensure that connected devices and related technologies are accessible and beneficial for all members of society, adaptive and sustainable governance is needed for multistakeholders to expand the boundaries of their respective scope of works, to share risk and co-invest in the digital infrastructure together.” Fanyu Lin, CEO, Fluxus   About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023</a> convenes the world’s foremost leaders under the theme Cooperation in a Fragmented World. It calls on world leaders to address immediate economic, energy and food crises while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world. For further information, please click <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">here</a>.

World Economic Forum

Unchecked Cyberattacks ‘Are Growing Threat to Fragile Global Economy’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422455" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246271238-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo the World Economic Forum (WEF) inside the Congress Centre in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January 2023&nbsp;– The World Economic Forum, supported by more than 45 partners today launched the Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA), a global initiative to fund and grow new and existing public, private and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) to help unlock the $3 trillion of financing needed each year to reach net zero, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity by 2050. With the energy and cost of living crises, the ambition of steering the planet towards a 1.5-degree Celsius warming pathway hangs in the balance. Meanwhile, the recent agreement at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15) in Montreal to conserve 30% of all earth and sea looks bold but fragile in the face of a rising biodiversity crisis. Current funding is slow and inadequate, and a new approach is needed to get capital flowing. Philanthropic giving can address this, with unique qualities not found in other financing: it is nimble, more tolerant of risks and is driven by values and long-term outcomes rather than quarterly returns. “We are at a tipping point in our efforts to put the planet back on track to meet our climate ambitions. To reach the speed and scale required to heal the Earth’s systems, we need to unlock not only private capital and government funds, but also the philanthropy sector as a truly catalytic force to achieve the necessary acceleration,”&nbsp;said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. GAEA’s growing body of philanthropic partners includes: Active Philanthropy, the African Climate Foundation, André Hoffmann Family Office, the Arab Foundations Forum, Bezos Earth Fund, BMW Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Clean Air Fund, Climate Leadership Initiative, ClimateWorks Foundation, Eleven Eleven Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Growald Climate Fund, IKEA Foundation, Laudes Foundation, Noa’s Ark Foundation, Open Society Foundations, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pearl Initiative, Philanthropy Asia Alliance (by Temasek Trust), Philea, The Rockefeller Foundation, Trottier Family Foundation, United Nations Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, WINGS, Workday Foundation. Individuals, academic institutions, companies and public sector organizations supporting the initiative include: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Capital for Climate, Carbon Direct, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, Centre for Strategic Philanthropy at the University of Cambridge, Climate-KIC, Crescent Enterprises, Government of Egypt, HCLTech through their chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, McKinsey Sustainability, Ocean14, Prince Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein &#8211; Chairman of the Board LGT Group, Salesforce, Singapore University for Social Sciences, Stanford University Center for Ocean Solutions, Strategic Philanthropy Initiative at NYU Abu Dhabi, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, We Mean Business Coalition, World Association of PPP Units &amp; PPP Professionals.&nbsp; Philanthropic financing for climate mitigation has risen in recent years, but still represents less than 2% of total philanthropic giving, estimated at $810 billion in 2021. Greater philanthropic funding for climate and nature will support, not detract from, existing social priorities. As recently noted by Rajiv Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation: “Climate change poses a singular threat to humanity … we must directly confront climate change, even as we redouble efforts in our traditional program areas: health, power, food, and equity.” Over the next 12 months, supported by McKinsey Sustainability as a knowledge partner, GAEA will work with founding members to build momentum around three clear objectives:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Convene leaders from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to identify and target climate and nature solutions where they are best positioned to play a catalytic role&nbsp;</li>



<li>Pilot and refine funding models that can support PPPP interventions&nbsp;</li>



<li>Scale up and replicate successful approaches to new sectors, regions and actors</li>
</ul>



GAEA will build on existing examples of success. For example, the Clean Cooling Collaborative, founded with the help of an initial $10 million of philanthropic funding in 2016, has mobilized more than $600 million in public and private finance to improve equitable access to low-carbon cooling and support 4.2 gigatons of avoided CO2&nbsp;emissions by 2050. Similarly, the Government of the Seychelles has leveraged philanthropic funding, public loan guarantees and private investment to raise $15 million through a blue bond and convert $22 million of government debt into conservation funding to protect 13 marine areas, covering an area larger than Germany. Wendy Abrams, Chief Executive Officer, Eleven Eleven Foundation, said: “We need more companies, family offices, individuals and the new generation of philanthropists to get involved in the climate and nature conversation. If we do not solve this together, there will be nothing to pass on to the next generation. GAEA can be a good platform to get all the right stakeholders and amplify action at scale.” Rania Al-Mashat, Minister for International Cooperation, Government of Egypt, said: “This call to action is extremely timely, as it builds on the directions set during COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, ‘the COP of implementation’ under the Egyptian presidency. We need more philanthropies to join us at the table and help scale up multilateral development bank finance to unlock private investments to accelerate the green transition. Egypt will work closely with the World Economic Forum to build effective and impactful philanthropic public private partnerships, and promote the role of the prominent ‘P’ – Philanthropy.” Per Heggenes, Chief Executive Officer, IKEA Foundation, said: “We are proud to support the launch of the GAEA initiative. The global figure of philanthropic capital for climate mitigation currently stands under 2% – and that is just not acceptable. But this is also a massive opportunity to leverage philanthropic giving for climate action. Philanthropies can play a unique role in encouraging urgent, radical and unprecedented collaboration between the public and private sectors. It’s only by working together at scale that we can unlock the investment required to achieve our ambitious climate goals and protect the planet.” Badr Jafar, Chief Executive Officer, Crescent Enterprises, said: “There is a historic opportunity to harness the full potential of philanthropic organizations, family offices and other innovative capital players, in unity with government and business to address our climate and nature goals. COP28 in the UAE will raise the bar in terms of ambition and the creation of a global architecture for all capital actors to act together at speed and at scale. The World Economic Forum and GAEA is a powerful platform and amplifier to enhance these efforts.” Helen Mountford, Chief Executive Officer, ClimateWorks, said: “By unleashing the small but mighty ‘P’ of philanthropy, we can create truly catalytic partnerships that unlock ambitious and collaborative public, private and philanthropic action to improve people’s lives.” Lim Seok Hui, Chief Executive Officer, Philanthropy Asia Alliance (by Temasek Trust), said: “Philanthropy Asia Alliance will continue to amplify its impact by supporting initiatives such as GAEA to pool our collective resources and expertise, and translate ideas into action. GAEA’s first Asia-focused key deliverable that will be launched later this year by PAA in partnership with the World Economic Forum, is a climate philanthropy report on multi-stakeholder partnerships as a force to combat complex climate challenges.” Bob Sternfels, Chief Executive Officer, McKinsey &amp; Company, said: “We are very excited to support GAEA’s aim to better connect philanthropic capital with public and private sector efforts to strengthen climate and nature solutions. Our collective hope is to accelerate thinking and action towards tipping points in these arenas, and to assure economic growth is increasingly sustainable and inclusive.”



About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023</a>&nbsp;will convene the world’s foremost leaders under the theme Cooperation in a Fragmented World.

New Initiative to Help Unlock $3 Trillion Needed a Year for Climate and Nature

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-422451" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



European markets are heading for a flat to lower open Tuesday, with concerns about the global economy high on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.



CNBC will be speaking to a range of delegates at the forum on Tuesday, including the leaders of Spain, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and the CEOs of Unilever, UBS, Allianz and Swiss Re, among many others. Follow our coverage here.



Concerns over the direction of the global economy, persistent inflation, fragmentation and sluggish growth are high on the agenda, as well as the war in Ukraine



Investors will also be digesting a slew of Chinese economic data that was released overnight, including figures showing the nation’s gross domestic product grew by 3% in 2022, marking one of the slowest growths in decades.

107179018-1673884197059-gettyimages-1246271143-DAVOS_WEF_2023

European markets head for lower open as economic concerns dominate Davos

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422438" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1439475516-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA &#8211; NOVEMBER 05: Idris Elba attends the 11th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)</figcaption></figure>



DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba called on Monday for business and political leaders to provide more support to the world&#8217;s poorest countries in the form of investment rather than aid.



At the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, the Elbas were both honoured for their work on environmental conservation, food security and climate change.



The couple, who are Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations&#8217; International Fund for Agricultural Development, appealed to participants at the annual summit for fast financial support for people hit by food scarcity and climate change.



&#8220;The poor of this world are not just looking for aid and handouts, they’re looking for investment,&#8221; Idris Elba said.



&#8220;We understand the power and change that can come from this room &#8230; We can move with agility and speed and your speed is needed now,&#8221; the star of he star of &#8220;Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom&#8221; and &#8220;Beasts of No Nation&#8221; added.



Sabrina Dhowre Elba highlighted food crises in Somalia, Haiti, Sudan and other countries, focusing on the plight of small-scale farmers without access to the resources they need and yet produce a third of the planet&#8217;s food.



&#8220;We are here at Davos to highlight the people and countries who are not making the headlines as much as my husband,&#8221; she said, looking at her partner.



(Reporting by Kathryn Lurie in Davos; Editing by Alexander Smith)

11th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala – Arrivals

Davos 2023: Idris Elba calls for investment to help world’s poor

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="506" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E-820x506.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418621" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E-820x506.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E-300x185.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E-146x90.jpg 146w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E-768x474.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Locals walk past electricity pylons during frequent power outages from South African utility Eskom, caused by its aging coal-fired plants, in Soweto, South Africa, July 3, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko//File Photo</figcaption></figure>



DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa has a plan to improve energy provision that will end the need for any power cuts within the next 12-18 months, ITS Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said on Monday.



&#8220;Eventually in the next 12-18 months we will be able to say load-shedding is a thing of the past. That is the target,&#8221; Godongwana, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss resort of Davos.



Godongwana said so-called &#8220;stage 6&#8221; power cuts &#8211; which mean at least six hours a day without power for most South Africans &#8211; would no longer be needed within about five months as facilities are revamped and measures such as demand management take effect.



However, asked whether state-owned power utility Eskom could expect to be allocated more cash for diesel to help reduce the level of power cuts, he said: &#8220;I don&#8217;t think Eskom has a diesel problem, I think Eskom has got a management problem.&#8221;



Referring to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AJ8N325021&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">move</a>&nbsp;last week by South Africa&#8217;s energy regulator to approve an 18.65% power price rise for the financial year starting on April 1, he said: &#8220;I suspect it is going to give them (Eskom) sufficient resources to be able to deal with all of that stuff.&#8221;



Godongwana insisted the rand, which earlier on Monday fell against the dollar as investors worried about the power supply situation, &#8220;has proven to be resilient&#8221;, but he said South Africa needed to better communicate that it was tackling the problem.



President Cyril Ramaphosa, who earlier cancelled plans to attend the annual WEF meeting over the crisis, would refer to those efforts in his Feb. 9 state of the nation address, said Godongwana.



He would not elaborate on proposals for the state to take on a share of Eskom&#8217;s 400 billion rand ($23.5 billion) debt, saying he was &#8220;sharpening his pencil&#8221; to provide the details on his Feb. 23 budget presentation.



($1 = 17.0312 rand)



(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Alexander Smith)

CS62UR5JZNID5DL7DS427TWJ2E

Davos 2023: South Africa plans to end load-shedding in 12-18 months -finmin

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422431" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279955-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Enoch Godongwana, South Africa&#8217;s finance minister, during a Bloomberg Television interview ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch&nbsp;Godongwana&nbsp;says resolving the&nbsp;country’s&nbsp;energy crisis&nbsp;demands urgency&nbsp;but questioned&nbsp;whether a declaring a state of emergency&nbsp;is&nbsp;the appropriate instrument to use.&nbsp;



Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum underway in Davos Switzerland,&nbsp;Godongwana&nbsp;said he had heard&nbsp;suggestions that&nbsp;declaring a&nbsp;state of emergency&nbsp;could give the&nbsp;government&nbsp;the resources&nbsp;it needs&nbsp;to tackle the&nbsp;amplified&nbsp;power shortages.&nbsp;&nbsp;



But&nbsp;he&nbsp;questioned what&nbsp;impact&nbsp;this would have in keeping the lights on.&nbsp;



“I’ve heard about the State of Emergency. I don’t know what effect it will have if you declare a state of emergency. Will it make sure that you can have power to the grid or how it will work,”&nbsp;he told CNBC Africa’s Closing Bell show.&nbsp;



South Africa has experienced&nbsp;power cuts, known&nbsp;locally&nbsp;as load-shedding,&nbsp;every&nbsp;day since the new year&nbsp;began.&nbsp;This follows&nbsp;record power deficits&nbsp;in 2022 as a result of frequent breakdowns&nbsp;of&nbsp;its&nbsp;aging and poorly maintained&nbsp;power plants.&nbsp;





President Cyril Ramaphosa&nbsp;last night canceled attending&nbsp;this year’s World&nbsp;Economic&nbsp;Forum meetings,&nbsp;saying he needed to attend to&nbsp;the&nbsp;worsening&nbsp;power crisis at home.&nbsp;The&nbsp;National Treasury is due to&nbsp;announce&nbsp;further details&nbsp;at&nbsp;next month on&nbsp;government&nbsp;plans&nbsp;to&nbsp;take&nbsp;over&nbsp;a portion of Eskom’s&nbsp;R396.8bn&nbsp;debt&nbsp;as of December 2022.&nbsp;



The Minister said&nbsp;Treasury was waiting for the&nbsp;recent&nbsp;tariff&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA)&nbsp;before making a&nbsp;final&nbsp;determination on how much of Eskom’s debt would be brought on the state’s&nbsp;balance sheet.&nbsp;



“Among the variables, we needed&nbsp;to take into account is&nbsp;Nersa’s&nbsp;determination&nbsp;(on&nbsp;tariffs)&nbsp;because it will impact on Eskom’s cashflows moving forward and would also impact on the quantum of the debt that the state will have to take. That variable now has come through.”&nbsp;



Nersa&nbsp;approved a tariff increase of 18.65% for the 2022/23 financial year and 12.74% for the 2023/24 financial year. Eskom had sought an increase of&nbsp;32%&nbsp;



Godongwana&nbsp;is due to deliver the main&nbsp;budget on February 22.&nbsp;

SA Finance Minister Questions declaring emergency to resolve power crisis

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422427" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246279791-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo the World Economic Forum (WEF) on a window at the Congress Center in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Geneva, Switzerland, 16 January 2023&nbsp;– A dramatic rise in the frequency and severity of wildfires is undermining efforts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in combating climate change. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 30% of the world’s population is exposed to deadly heatwaves on more than 20 days a year. The World Economic Forum launched the FireAId initiative to&nbsp;address the wildfire crisis&nbsp;in January 2022.&nbsp;Successfully piloted by Koç Holding in the South Aegean and West Mediterranean region of Türkiye in 2022,&nbsp;this wildfire risk mapping and logistic planning project improved wildfire prediction by combining static and meteorological datasets and reduced both response time and risk to firefighters. Due to its success,&nbsp;the approach is being scaled for wider use.&nbsp; “During this difficult period of growing fire seasons and climate change, we are committed to continuing and strengthening this global engagement. We hope this report will inspire you to join these efforts, which can address the key drivers of catastrophic fires, increase the pace and scale of forest management and improve the resilience of increasingly threatened communities globally,”&nbsp;said&nbsp;Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum. This report urges the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in predicting and directing responses to wildfires and managing forests. It follows the launch of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/">Global Risks Report 2023</a>, which highlights failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change, natural disasters and extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss and environmental degradation among the top risks faced by societies.&nbsp; Wildfires have occurred naturally for millions of years and are integral to the maintenance of healthy forests. Mediterranean forests burn down entirely once every 50 years as part of their natural cycle, but climate change is making wildfires more frequent, larger and more devastating. In the US, there have been around 1.5 million wildfires since 2000, burning an average 7 million acres annually – more than double the 3.3 million acres destroyed by wildfires each year in the 1990s. California wildfires in 2020 alone burned more than 4 million acres and released almost twice the tonnage of greenhouse gases as the total CO2&nbsp;reductions achieved over 18 years since 2003 – an estimated 127 million tonnes CO2&nbsp;equivalent released compared to 65 million tonnes of reductions. Global wildfires in 2021 released an estimated total of 6,450 megatonnes of CO2&nbsp;– 148% more than total European Union fossil fuel emissions in 2020, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/CopernicusECMWF">@CopernicusECMWF</a>, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. In South Africa, the February 2021 wildfire near Cape Town burned more than 13,000 hectares and threatened the city outskirts, torching university buildings. Wildfires in Australia in 2019 and 2020 killed or displaced more than 3 billion animals. Forest lands provide the majority of freshwater supplies – in the US, 80% of the total. But wildfires severely affect water quality in rivers, reservoirs and streams. Ash settles on water surfaces, while burned landscapes may erode more quickly, increasing the accumulation of sediment in water. After a wildfire, the soil may have reduced capacity to absorb and store water, increasing the likelihood of flooding. Managing and preventing wildfires is a vital element of efforts to control climate change and protect habitats, lives and livelihoods. AI and ML show immense potential for developing a response to this crisis. Advances in AI may be applied to managing forests and fighting wildfires:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The dream of producing autonomous vehicles has driven continuous refinements in computer vision AI, which can be applied to the science of wildfire prediction</li>



<li>Developments in natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG) have improved computers’ capacity to make predictions</li>
</ul>



Advances in data-collection methods support firefighting and wildfire risk management:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Sensors with inbuilt AI can collect acoustic information or operate as smoke detectors in forests and alert authorities within the first hour of a wildfire starting</li>



<li>Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be flown over fires to provide live images and help firefighters plan their response</li>
</ul>



Two programmes are under development in the US to provide near-live fire information:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Google uses geostationary satellites to produce near real-time maps</li>



<li>NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRMS) uses low-orbit satellites and software developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) to provide live fire data with a lag of just 60 seconds between Earth observation and wildfire detection</li>
</ul>



The FireAId initiative was piloted with Koç Holding in Türkiye in the wake of the worst wildfires ever recorded in the country in July–August 2021. A total of 139,503 hectares burned in these wildfires. Koç Holding, a pioneer of digitalization in the Turkish private sector, developed the pilot programme in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It focused on the South Aegean and West Mediterranean parts of Türkiye, covering 44,000km2. One quarter of the country’s wildfires have broken out in that region, corresponding to 75% of total burned area in 2010–2021. The project was conducted in two phases:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Dynamic and static datasets were used to create a risk map, with risks categorized under two types – ignition (probability of a wildfire starting) and severity</li>



<li>The risk map was used to create a model for allocating resources most efficiently after a wildfire started</li>
</ol>



The project successfully used Koç Holding’s advanced data analytics capacity to predict wildfires and enable more efficient use of existing firefighting resources. It analysed more than 400 variables using its AI-based model and the results encouraged Koç Holdings to develop and scale the model for use in all regions of Türkiye.



&#8220;We are willing to work with all interested stakeholders, international organizations and especially countries that are vulnerable to wildfires. In terms of scaling, we want to underline that this is a non-commercial product. We can share our algorithms and source codes for further improvements. We have already started to work on scaling the pilot to cover all regions in Turkey as the next step. In parallel, we are eager to work with data providers and piloting partners across the world. We must all unite in an effort to save our forests, our common future, our world, ”&nbsp;said&nbsp;Levent Çakıroğlu Chief Executive Officer of Koç Holding.



Deloitte, which joined the FireAId initiative in June 2022, is developing forecasting models and a scenario engine, together with an intuitive user interface (a dynamic map that users can pan and zoom, with key statistics and controls). It is looking to use its technology partnership with NVIDIA, developers of the Earth-2 digital model of the planet, to create a digital twin simulation for firefighters, allowing them to plot a fire’s likely progress and the effectiveness of proposed responses. Though much has been accomplished, these remain works in progress and are being rigorously tested. “Wildfires represent a growing environmental problem. Intervention measures are more effective the earlier they are taken – saving lives, livelihoods, habitats, as well as the cost of the measures themselves.&nbsp;While a significant modelling challenge, better prediction of fire outbreak and spread – using technologies such as AI, cloud and digital twins – has the potential to upgrade resource planning and save firefighters valuable time,”&nbsp;said&nbsp;David Thogmartin, Director of AI and Data Analytics at Deloitte Risk Advisory and AI and Machine Learning Fellow at the World Economic Forum In firefighting every second counts – it is critical to respond quickly and effectively. But many firefighters are hampered by ageing equipment and inadequate budgets. The report emphasizes that government ministries must respond to the need for funding to boost budgets, modernize departments and upgrade equipment. In project workshops, experts emphasized the need for international cooperation to develop this initiative. In particular, they stressed the need to:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Share compatible and relevant data, which is critical for the development of AI fire-prediction models</li>



<li>Supplement historical data with new sources that provide real-time information</li>



<li>Develop existing methods of using controlled burns to prevent, manage and limit wildfires – “fighting fire with fire”</li>
</ul>



The FireAId initiative provides inspiration for future development teams and a focus for global engagement among climate technology leaders in industry and government. Their cooperation should focus on developing the use of AI and ML in wildfire risk management and in mitigating other climate risks to protect natural environments, populations and economic prosperity. The success of the FireAId pilot provides hope. Progress is under way – existing data and past studies of wildfire dynamics lay a solid foundation for future development. “With the wildfire risk mapping and logistic planning project, in which Koç Holding’s advanced analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities and our know-how have combined, we have incorporated new technological advancements into our organization. Prior to this, only meteorological variables were used in risk mapping, but as of now static and meteorological datasets are combined. In addition, response time is one of the critical metrics in firefighting. The logistic planning part of the project enables us to reduce response time with less risk. “We have been working on extending our pilot [throughout] Türkiye. We believe that extending FireAId to other fire-prone countries with the support of the World Economic Forum will help the fight against wildfires,”&nbsp;saidBekir Karacabey, General Manager at the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Successful Pilot Shows How Artificial Intelligence Can Fight Wildfires

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422421" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272359-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo the World Economic Forum (WEF) inside the Congress Centre in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Davos, Switzerland, 16 January 2023&nbsp;– A new report launched today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 shows how “early mover” countries can accelerate the food systems transformation. The report,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/food-nature-and-health-transitions-repeatable-country-models">Food, Nature and Health Transitions – Repeatable Country Models</a>, offers insights into the actions and investments that can accelerate a country’s transition towards food systems that deliver a stronger economy, better livelihoods for a more inclusive set of people, greater nutritional security and improved health, while causing a lower impact on the climate and nature.



“Transforming food systems provide healthy and nutritious diets and dignified jobs for farmers and producers. This report shows how economic development with environment protection supports communities in climate adaption and mitigation efforts,” said Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate.



The report, written in collaboration with Bain &amp; Company, presents “repeatable models” from seven “early mover” countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe whose performance has been comparatively strong and whose examples and lessons are widely relevant. Their stories of transformation identify common, repeatable elements, including the most critical actions and investments for driving change and how they should be coordinated.



“Depending on the country context, different pathways could be adopted to transform our agrifood systems for improved food security and nutrition and assuring sustainability,” said Maximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “Scaling up climate resilience and strengthening our food environment to promote healthy diets&nbsp;are two key interventions with positive impacts on food security,&nbsp;nature and health.” “When food fails, everything fails,” added Geraldine Matchett, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Royal DSM, and Co-Chair of the CEO Alliance on Food, Nature and Health. “We must work to transform our food systems to be resilient, sustainable and healthy.” A number of countries, including Ghana, India and Viet Nam, have been able to evolve their food systems to improve a broader set of outcomes by unlocking the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those that are farmer-allied and operating in local food chains. Countries can also use innovation to improve productivity, sustainability and nutritional outcomes, as demonstrated in Algeria, which has improved food security in the face of significant constraints on water availability, while Viet Nam has sustainably intensified its rice production. Farmers are more likely to adopt new practices if the economics work in their favour, according to the report, but making this happen requires action from many stakeholders. Examples in Canada and New Zealand illustrate how to scale adoption of nature-positive and climate-smart food production, particularly focusing on the case for an economic advantage for producers. Each of the “early mover” country profiles in the report show how multiple actors and concurrent levers, across sectors, interact and coordinate to enable large-scale transformation over time. Collectively, they demonstrate the potential for these levers – if applied in tandem and with greater urgency – to accelerate country-led food systems transformation. About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023</a>&nbsp;convenes the world’s foremost leaders under the theme&nbsp;Cooperation in a Fragmented World. It calls on world leaders to address immediate economic, energy and food crises while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world. For further information, please click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">here</a>.



“Depending on the country context, different pathways could be adopted to transform our agrifood systems for improved food security and nutrition and assuring sustainability,” said Maximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “Scaling up climate resilience and strengthening our food environment to promote healthy diets&nbsp;are two key interventions with positive impacts on food security,&nbsp;nature and health.” “When food fails, everything fails,” added Geraldine Matchett, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Royal DSM, and Co-Chair of the CEO Alliance on Food, Nature and Health. “We must work to transform our food systems to be resilient, sustainable and healthy.” A number of countries, including Ghana, India and Viet Nam, have been able to evolve their food systems to improve a broader set of outcomes by unlocking the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those that are farmer-allied and operating in local food chains. Countries can also use innovation to improve productivity, sustainability and nutritional outcomes, as demonstrated in Algeria, which has improved food security in the face of significant constraints on water availability, while Viet Nam has sustainably intensified its rice production. Farmers are more likely to adopt new practices if the economics work in their favour, according to the report, but making this happen requires action from many stakeholders. Examples in Canada and New Zealand illustrate how to scale adoption of nature-positive and climate-smart food production, particularly focusing on the case for an economic advantage for producers. Each of the “early mover” country profiles in the report show how multiple actors and concurrent levers, across sectors, interact and coordinate to enable large-scale transformation over time. Collectively, they demonstrate the potential for these levers – if applied in tandem and with greater urgency – to accelerate country-led food systems transformation. About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 The World Economic Forum&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">Annual Meeting 2023</a>&nbsp;convenes the world’s foremost leaders under the theme&nbsp;Cooperation in a Fragmented World. It calls on world leaders to address immediate economic, energy and food crises while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world. For further information, please click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023">here</a>.

Countries That Tackle Food Crisis Can Boost ‘Jobs, Health and Nature’ and Meet Net-Zero Goals

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422411" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246272339-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A frost-covered logo for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 16 to 20. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



European markets were cautiously higher on Monday as investors assessed the growth and inflation outlook in light of recent data alongside the beginning of corporate earnings season.



The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% by mid-afternoon, with financial services adding 0.8% while travel and leisure stocks dropped 0.7%.



The World Economic Forum in Switzerland is a key focus for European markets this week. Heads of state and business leaders mingle with academics and innovators in Davos. The key themes for delegates to debate and discuss are the war in Ukraine, economic instability and uncertainty and climate change, among other things.



This year’s WEF takes place against a cost-of-living crisis for many, and some leaders are not attending the annual meeting as crises continue at home. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the only Group of Seven leader set to attend the forum this year.

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