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Climate activists are crying foul over the presence of the world’s biggest oil and gas firms at this week’s World Economic Forum – protests erupted ahead of the event.
Thousands of global business leaders and political elites will gather in Davos, Switzerland for the WEF, which runs from Monday to Friday. Executives from major energy firms including BP, Chevron and Saudi Aramco are expected to attend.
“We are demanding concrete and real climate action,” said Nicolas Siegrist, a 26-year-old organizer of the protest who heads Switzerland’s Youth Socialist Party.
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Climate change protesters, also known as Extinction Riot activists, gather outside the New York Governor’s office on January 25, 2022 in New York City. (Tayfan Koskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“They’re in the same room with state leaders and they’re pushing for their interests,” Siegrist added.
More than 100 protesters gathered in snowy Davos Square and chanted “change your diet to suit the climate, eat the rich,” while some oil firms were mentioned during the speech.
| ticker | security | the last one | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BP | BP PLC | 35.56 | +0.25 | +0.71% |
| CVX | Chevron Corp | 177.56 | +0.48 | +0.27% |
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German Klaus Schwab, founder and president of the World Economic Forum, gestures at a press conference in Cologne, Switzerland, on January 16, 2013. (AP Newsroom)
“I know that some companies are involved in alternatives but I think that governments should turn the field in favor of alternative energy with their subsidies,” said Heather Smith, a member of the 99% organization. Smith is campaigning to stop development of the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea.
This year’s WEF is set to feature more than a dozen panels related to energy and climate change concerns. Topics include clean energy infrastructure, climate litigation, decarbonisation of supply chains and increasing electricity consumption.
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) leaves the US Capitol after voting on August 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Among those going to WEF will be one of the staunchest defenders of energy policies in Congress, Democratic Sen. of West Virginia. Joe Machin.
Manchin — whose defense of fossil fuels like coal and oil has rankled members of his party — is set to be part of the US delegation to Davos.
Mnuchin is scheduled to participate Thursday in a panel titled “Reviving the World” along with British Labor Party leader Keir Stormer, along with executives from a fuel cell company and a power and gas distribution company.
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Panelists will discuss how leaders must juggle short-term energy needs with long-term supply and sustainability issues in the “global energy crisis context in which leaders must grapple with climate emergency, geopolitical conflict and pressures on prices.”
Former Vice President Al Gore, a longtime advocate for action on climate change who has faced criticism for his personal carbon footprint, will appear on a panel discussing research from ClimateTrace that found greenhouse gas emissions are significantly underreported around the world.
Reuters contributed to this report.
