 Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, it's an honor and privilege to have with us His Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations on the opening day of the 2022 Davos Agenda. With the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire, the COVID pandemic continues to dominate our daily lives amidst an already growing inequality gap, the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions that are causing unprecedented humanitarian needs. On the other hand, we are witnessing accelerated collaboration through new or expanded public-private initiatives that are unlocking frontier technologies to support a green transition, closing the digital divide and future-proofing workers. As you have laid out in your vision for the future, Secretary-General, our common agenda, the solutions to today's challenges depend on action from all stakeholders, governments, international organizations, civil society, private sector and particularly young people. Action designed to strengthen global cooperation driven by solidarity and the recognition that we must work together as no one community or country, however powerful, can solve its challenges alone. We are grateful for the continued close collaboration with you personally but also between the World Economic Forum and the United Nations to strengthen multi-stakeholder engagement in solving together today's complex challenges. Secretary-General, I invite you to share your views on the state of the world and your vision on how to end the global pandemic and recover from its impact in a more sustainable and equitable way. Welcome. Well dear Borger Brande, thank you very much for the invitation and dear friends, this year's World Economic Forum takes place in the shadow of an enormously difficult period for economies, for people and for the planet. According to the UN's Economic Report released last week, the world is emerging from the depths of a paralyzing economic crisis but recovery remains fragile and uneven amid the lingering pandemic, persistent labor market challenges, ongoing supply chain disruptions, rising inflation and looming debt traps not to mention the geopolitical divide. And as a result, we see recovery slowing down quite substantially and all of these threatens hard-won progress in advancing the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals, our key projects. The last two years have demonstrated a simple but brutal truth. If we leave anyone behind, in the end we leave everyone behind. If we fail to vaccinate every person, we give rise to new variants that spread across borders and bring daily life and economies to a grinding halt. And if you fail to provide debt relief and financing to developing countries, we create a lopsided recovery that can send an interconnected global economy into a tailspin. If we fail to reduce inequalities, we weigh down economic progress for all people in all countries. And if we fail to match climate rhetoric with climate actions, we condemn ourselves to a hotter, more volatile hers with worsening disasters and mass displacement. Now, at the core of these failures is a global inability to support developing countries in their hour of need and also a problem of governance for international different systems. Without immediate action to support developing countries, inequalities and poverty will deepen. And this will result in more social unrest and more violence. At the Forum's new global risk report, it reminds us, the world is marching down a path laden with enormous risks. And we cannot afford this kind of instability. To chart a new course, we need all hands on deck, especially all of you in the global business community, and I have a number of asks. As you meet, discuss and deliberate the prospects for recovery and the economic rebound this coming year, I urge you to focus on three urgent areas. First, we need to confront the pandemic with equity and fairness. Last fall, the World Health Organization unveiled a strategy to vaccinate 40% of people in all countries by the end of last year and 70% by the middle of this year. We are nowhere near these targets. Vaccination rates in high-income countries are, shamefully, seven times higher than in African countries. And we need vaccine equity now. Now, all countries and all manufacturers must prioritize vaccine supply to COVAX and support the local production of tests, vaccines and treatments around the world. We need pharmaceutical companies to stand in solidarity with developing countries by sharing licenses, know-how and technology, so we can all find a way out of this pandemic. And of course, in situations where compensation may be warranted, we don't want to have any pharmaceutical company in financial difficulties or not able to invest. In those situations, developed countries should explore ways to provide the necessary financial support. And we must prepare for the next pandemic through common sense investments in monitoring, early detection and rapid response plans in every country and by strengthening the authority of the World Health Organization. Throughout, we need to bolster local primary health care and put all countries on the road to achieve universal health coverage. And we are still so far from it. Second, we need to reform the global financial system in a way that it can work for all countries without being biased. At this critical moment, we are setting in stone a lopsided recovery. Modern 8 out of 10 recovery dollars are being spent in developed countries. Low-income countries are at a huge disadvantage. They are experiencing their slowest growths in a generation and trying to dig themselves out with woefully insufficient national budgets. The burdens of record inflation, shrinking fiscal space, high interest rates, and they will be higher, and soaring energy and food prices are hitting every corner of the world and blocking recovery, especially in low and some middle-income countries. They stifle any hope of growth by making it even more difficult for governments to invest in the sustainable and resilient systems people need. Else, education, decent work, and social protection are not only human rights. They collectively represent a country's economic engine, and in developing countries right now, this engine is stalled with dire consequences for people's livelihoods, especially for women and youth. The global financial system has failed them when they need it most, and global solidarity is missing in action. Countries are shackled by mounting debt and extortionate interest rates, all but guaranteeing defaulted payments. And many middle-income countries find themselves ineligible for debt relief despite surging poverty, rising unemployment, and development losses. Now, we need a global financial system that is fit for purpose, and this means urgent debt restructuring and reforms of the long-term debt architecture. It means expanding the common framework for debt treatment to middle-income countries and to make it work with private sector creditors also engaging with the framework. It means going beyond gross domestic product to measure, mitigate, and prepare for vulnerability and investment risks, especially climate risks. It means addressing corruption and illicit financial flows and ensuring that tech systems are fair and designed in a way that truly reduces inequalities, and it means bringing together governments, businesses, the financial sector and international financial institutions to build up private investment in developing countries. As business leaders, stand with us and we shape a global financial system that works for all countries, not just the wealthy few. Third, we need to support real climate action in developing countries. Emissions must fall, but they continue to rise. Cold-fired power generation is surging towards a new all-time record. And even if all developed countries kept their promise, very important promise, to drastically reduce emissions by 2030, the problem is that with all developing countries achieving their present nationally determined contribution, especially emerging economies, global emissions would still be too high to keep 1.5 degrees goal within reach. We, in fact, would need a 45% reduction in global emissions this decade, yet with the present conditions, global emissions are set to increase by 14% by 2030, defying reason and ignoring the impacts on people, economies and our planet. 1.2 degrees of warming has already brought devastating consequences and soaring price tags measured in dollars and despair. Over the last two decades, the economic toll from climate-related disasters skyrocketed by 82%. Extreme weather in 2021 caused 120 billion US dollars in insured losses and killed 10,000 people. And climate shocks for 30 million people to flee their homes in 2020 alone, three times more than those displaced by war and violence. And 1 billion children are at an extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. Now, turning this ship around will take immense willpower and ingenuity from governments and businesses alike in every major emitting nation. Now, a number of countries have pledged to make meaningful emissions reductions in the 2020s, but other countries face enormous structural obstacles. They have an energy mix that relies on heavy dependence on coal. And that stands in the way of progress for us all. So they need assistance. Let's not go into a blame and shame. Let's assist. Help key emerging economies to accelerate the transition. And I'm calling for the creation of coalitions, coalitions with countries, governments, public and private financial institutions, investment funds and companies that have the technological know-how to provide targeted financial and technical support for every country that needs assistance. We have had the U.S. and China making an agreement that I hope will provide China with more adequate technologies in order to accelerate the transition from coal. India doesn't like a coalition, but India has accepted several bilateral forms of support. And I've been in close contact with the U.S., the UK and several other countries to make sure that there is a strong project to support India, namely in their investment of 450 gigawatts of solar energy. And Indonesia and Vietnam already accepted the concept of a coalition supporting them to get rid of coal. So this must be a priority for us all, to phase out coal. No new coal plant should be built. As I said, the governments of Indonesia and Vietnam have just announced their intention to get out of coal and to have a transition to renewable energy, but they need support for that. South Africa now has in place a just energy transition with a partnership that involves a number of key countries and international financial institutions to support them in accelerating their moving out, progressive moving out from coal. And we see a clear role for businesses and investors in supporting our net-zero goal. The net-zero asset owners' alliance has set the gold standard. And last week, I took part in a meeting of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for net-zero. That group has mobilized, represents more than 130 trillion assets mobilized to the net-zero goal. The entire financial system should follow their lead. But these efforts must be complemented. We need entire sectors on board. Every industry, shipping and aviation and others must be on a trajectory for net-zero by 2050. At COP26, I also announced the creation of a high-level expert group to evaluate the standards and criteria used to implement and monitor net-zero commitments by non-state actors, businesses, cities, financial institutions and regions. Over the course of this year, the group will propose new frameworks and develop recommendations. It is encouraging to see the private sector take the lead, but it is essential to put pressure on governments to keep up and not be left behind. The truth is that many of today's policies and regulatory frameworks are an obstacle for private sector engagement. At the same time, international financial institutions are not doing enough to create forms of partnership that will allow to de-risk private investment in countries that need to speed up their transition. And all these needs to change. So, dear friends, across all these three areas, we need the support, the ideas, the financing and the voice of the global business community. We cannot afford to replicate the inequalities and the injustice that continue condemning tens of millions of people to lives of want, poverty and poor health. And we cannot continue building walls between the haves and the haves-not or building walls that undermine a global market that needs to work in a united way. We need to come together across countries and across sectors to support those that need the most help. So, let's stand together to make 2022 a true moment of recovery. And I look forward to working with all of you to make this happen. And I look forward to the discussion that we are going to have. Thank you very much. No, thank you so much, Secretary-General, for this very powerful speech and the count on the World Economic Forum's full support as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. And I think your three points are so important. It is a strong paradox that seven times more people are vaccinated proportionally in the developed world than in the developing world. Also, your point about the financial side of it, off the 14 trillion U.S. dollars that are spent on stimulus, only 2% have ended up in developing countries. And for the first time in two decades, we are seeing that extreme poverty is growing and also count on the business community and us when it comes to mobilizing companies in the fight against climate change. The cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of action. That's why 120 companies have come together under the umbrella of the World Economic Forum and committed to next zero by 2050. And this community is growing. So I'm happy that we also have two COs with us here today. And let me then go to Anish Shah, Managing Director and CEO of Mahindra Group India. India is a very important country. You're also heading one of the most important companies in the country. And we just had half an hour ago, Prime Minister Modi addressing Davao. So over to you, Anish. Thank you, Borge. Greetings, Mr. Secretary General. It was a pleasure hearing your thoughts. Over the last year, we have seen a significant momentum in efforts to address climate change. Many of my CEO colleagues across the world and at the World Economic Forum are playing a leadership role to make a meaningful impact as we strengthen the public-private partnership. We at Mahindra Group are targeting that zero by 2040 and have made meaningful progress, but we still have a long way to go. And we realize that current technologies will take us only half the distance. You mentioned coalitions, sir. Could we create global platforms for seamless transfer of technology or knowledge? Could we leverage maybe a UN platform in this regard? We would love your thoughts on how such a cross-border task force could help countries and companies collaborate in developing technologies required to address climate change. This will enable all of us, as you mentioned, to turn the ship around and accelerate a decarbonization agenda. Thank you. Well, thank you very much for your question. That is absolutely a crucial one. But of course, the reform that you talk about would mean changing rules in the World Trade Organization, changing the trips, changing several of the rules in intellectual property. And I think this is not going to be easy. I'm very much in favor of these changes done in a way that allows for effective transfer of technology without undermining the research capacity of those that are now in the front line. So I'm not in favor of a system in which all of a sudden intellectual property disappears. On the contrary, but we need to organize things in a way that the transfer of intellectual property will be much easier than what it is today. But these will not be easy and these will take some time. And that is the reason why I've been trying in close contact with several developed countries and with international financial institutions to see if we can find for each country that needs an important support in order to be able to reduce emissions in the present decade. And India is in the front line of these countries. My proposal was to bring together a number of governments to bring together international financial institutions to bring together, and I mentioned that to the funds, private finance and companies with the technologies that are relevant in order to be able to with the governments and the private sector of the countries like India or like Indonesia or like Vietnam or like Thailand or like South Africa to be able to have a massive program of support targeted to those countries in which of course the developed world would have to invest in making sure that the technologies are made available and that this is financially supported in order for the countries and the companies that have those technologies to be able to accept to be part of this effort. Now I've seen a lot of acceptance of this concept. Your government has told us that it doesn't want a coalition and I understand the perspective of the India government that thinks that probably a coalition like that would have some kind of tutoring that India cannot accept and I fully understand that. But they are ready to move on with several bilateral agreements in this regard and I'm totally at your disposal to see and in close contact with the US, with the European Union, with Japan, with other countries and with several financial institutions how is it possible to find mechanisms that allow effective transfer of technology to the companies that operate in the sectors that are decisive, both energy but not only energy, industry and others that are decisive for India to be able to start more effectively reducing emissions. As I mentioned, there is this mega-project of the 450 gigawatts, and we need to make sure that there is adequate finance for this project, but there is a lot of things that also need to be supported in industries and of course your company has been, I would say, the ex-liberies of the India green private sector and so, I mean, we are delighted. Our climate team in close association with the presidency of the COP and in close association with several countries I'll be delighted to do everything possible to put in place mechanisms that can work in support to Indian companies, but I agree with you that what we would need would be a broader mechanism in which these technological transfers would become possible, would mean changing some rules, but also guaranteeing that companies would not give up on the research that is needed. So, as I said, we are not looking into expropriation of technology, we are looking into a fair way in which technology can be transferred and for that to be possible with the support of international financial institutions and the support of several developed countries. Thank you so much, Secretary General. We have two more questions to go. If you want, we can bundle them or if you have time, we can take them separately. For me, we can take them separately. Thank you, thank you, I just wanted to. We know you're a busy man. There is a lot of challenges to get solved. The first question is then coming from my colleague, Sadia Sahidi. She's managing director at the World Economic Forum and I know, Secretary General, that you know her important work on risk, gender equality, but also inclusion and jobs. Thank you, Sadia. Very much, Secretary General, for the opportunity to ask you a question. Last September, you convened a high-level event on jobs and social protection to address the uneven impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on people in countries. As outlined in your speech just now, as well as the forum's latest local risk report, a divergent recovery is very likely to create further social fractures. Given this uneven recovery from the pandemic, how can the public and the private sector join forces towards a just and fair transition towards a new economic model and in particular one that integrates better jobs, better social protection and better learning and education? Thank you. Well, thank you very much. First of all, in those countries, the private sector must be an important element of what I've been calling the need for a renewed social contract. I mean, the trust between those that are governed and the governments, both in democracies and in more authoritarian regimes is being undermined. The social contract has evaporated wherever it existed and we need a new social contract exactly to address the questions related to education, the questions related to health coverage, the questions related to social protection and others. And I think the private sector has a key role to play in order to allow for that to happen. But this social contract in a developing country will not be able if there is not an effective support from the outside because obviously they have no fiscal space for the social policies that are needed and they have all the debt problems. So I think we also need, and I've been calling with a new global deal and the reform of international financial institutions and the way international finance works in order for private investment from outside to be also a key instrument in this capacity. Now in many situations private investment will be difficult because of the risks associated. And that is why I've been insisting with the shareholders of the international financial institutions, the World Bank, the different regional development banks in order to insist on those institutions to be ready for a much more effective partnership with the private sector with systems of guarantees with the systems of joint investment in the first risk is assumed by international financial institutions to allow for effective private investment in countries where with the present outlooks that exist the private sector would probably hesitate. So I would encourage of course all big, especially multinational corporations with all other countries that are able to invest meaningfully in the developing world to do so, but I will be go on insisting for the need to create mechanisms of support to de-risk and leverage private investment. Thank you so much. Let's then move over to Sven Ture Hulsatter he is the president and CEO of YARA. I think you know also Mr. Hulsatter Mr. Secretary General it's in the agriculture fertilizer sector and we know that food is very high on your agenda also following the food summit that you convened last fall. So Mr. Hulsatter. Thank you again Mr. Secretary General first thank you so much for your clear and direct speech and the opportunity to speak with you. One of my biggest concerns and an area where I hope for stronger collaboration is in the looming food crisis we cannot ignore the warning signs of an impending global security issue that could impact millions around the world in areas where the pandemic and catastrophic climate events conflict and now rising prices are hitting really hard. Take the African continent as an example the combination of an annual 35 billion dollar food import bill some of the lowest agriculture productivity in the world severe droughts, locus events, poor access to vaccines and existing conflicts create the perfect storm we need to act and we need to act together so firstly this is a potential security issue capable of destabilizing societies and forcing people into poverty, hunger and migration and I believe this is a topic for the UN Security Council to address secondly how can the United Nations coordinate our joint action as the CEO of a global crop and nutrition company I'm ready to act. How do you advise we work together with governments and international organizations to ensure that we have enough food both available and affordable in the next years. Thank you Well that is a crucial question because for the first time after a long period in which hunger was every year decreasing in the world we have witnessed an increase of hunger that is something that is morally absolutely intolerable and that has consequences as you mentioned in relation to social stability, the risk of conflict and the difficulties for countries to have an effective recovery We had the food summit I think it was a good summit in the sense that it was probably to bring together the governments but also the private sector, the business community in general and the civil society and we have decided that the three organizations that exist in the UN WFP, FAO and IFAD probably would not be enough to create the mechanisms of coordination that you mentioned necessary so we have now created in Rome a hub a food security hub and the idea is to have this hub as a platform to strengthen the cooperation with all public and private entities that want to be part of a global project in relation to increased food security meaning not only fighting hunger but also increasing productivity and production and creating the conditions for the agriculture recovery to be a main factor in the recovery especially in developing countries and particularly in Africa where we absolutely need to have food markets working as markets we have very interesting experiences like Kenya, it's possible for farmers with only a mobile phone to know exactly what are the prices in the different areas of the country how they can make sure that intermediaries people in the intermediary sector will not cheat on them or whatever we have financial mechanisms that can also be put in place through the mobile phones some things are happening but globally in the African continent we have a dramatic problem of productivity as you mentioned and we would like to create conditions to mobilize not only the FAO the FAO is supporting them as they can but to mobilize those that have the technology, the experience and also the financial capacity supported again by international financial institutions to be able to have the impact in Africa of what the green revolution has meant in Asia, unfortunately Africa did not benefit but it's absolutely essential to do something similar with of course different characteristics but with the same objective making Africa a continent that will be able not only to feed itself but to provide food accidents to the global market Thank you so much Mr. Secretary General thank you again for your powerful speech, thank you for great collaboration and I can promise you that we will follow what you said, all hands on deck to address the three challenges that you outlined and thank you for your global leadership that is more important than ever and your commitment, thank you so much Thank you very much and all the best and congratulations on everything the World Economic Forum is doing in order to make sure that we really move in the right direction in all fronts be it climate, be it COVID, be it the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals we are very grateful for your support and for your engagement Thank you so much, bye bye All the best, thank you