The world is in a ‘sorry state’, UN chief warns at Davos summit

The world is in a “sorry state” because of myriad “interlinked” challenges including climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine that are “piling up like cars in a chain reaction crash”, the head of the United Nations said at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered his gloomy message on the second day of the elite gathering of world leaders and corporate executives in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Sessions took a grim turn when news broke of a helicopter crash in Ukraine in which 18 people were killed, including Ukraine’s interior minister and other officials.

Forum President Borge Brende requested a few moments of silence and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska dabbed at her eyes, calling it “another very sad day” before telling attendees that “we can also change this negative situation for the better”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was scheduled to address the conclave by video-link as the Ukrainian delegation which includes his wife pushes for more aid, including weapons, from international allies to fight Russia.

Speaking before Mr Zelensky will be German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is facing pressure to send tanks to help Ukraine and is the only leader to attend Davos from the Group of 7 biggest economies.

Mr Guterres said the widest levels of geopolitical division and mistrust in generations are undermining efforts to tackle global problems, which also include widening inequality, a cost-of-living crisis sparked by soaring inflation, and an energy crunch, lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply-chain disruptions and more.

He singled out climate change as an “existential challenge”, and said a global commitment to limit the Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5C “is nearly going up in smoke”.

Mr Guterres, who has been one of the most outspoken world figures on climate change, referred to a recent study which found that scientists at Exxon Mobil had made remarkably accurate predictions about the effects of climate change as far back as the 1970s, even as the company publicly doubted that warming was real.

“We learned last week that certain fossil fuel producers were fully aware in the 1970s that their core product was baking our planet,” he said in his speech. “Some in Big Oil peddled the big lie.”

Critics have questioned the impact of the four-day meeting where politicians, chief executives and other leaders discuss the world’s problems – and make deals on the sidelines – but where concrete action is harder to measure.

Environmentalists, for example, have condemned the carbon-spewing private jets that ferry in bigwigs to an event that prioritises the battle against climate change.

On the second day, government officials, corporate titans, academics and activists were attending dozens of panel sessions on topics covering the metaverse, environmental greenwashing and artificial intelligence.

Ukraine has taken centre stage as the anniversary of the war nears, with Ms Zelenska pressing attendees to do more to help her country at a time when Russia’s invasion is leaving children dying and the world struggling with food insecurity.

The helicopter crash added more tragedy after a Russian missile strike hit an apartment building over the weekend in the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing dozens of people in one of the deadliest single attacks in months.

But Ukraine is gaining additional international support.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that the Netherlands plans to “join” the US and Germany’s efforts to train and arm Ukraine with advanced Patriot defence systems.

The German government has faced mounting pressure to make another significant step forward in military aid to Ukraine by agreeing to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to visit Berlin this week and then host a meeting of allies at Ramstein Air Base in western Germany.