 Madam President, dear participants, it's such a great pleasure to see you again when we met last year Dr. van der Leyen. It was in Davos and we celebrated your actually opened our 50th anniversary meeting and the world looked more or less quite in balance or in order. What year and particularly what year for you and as a European I have to say I'm proud that Europe is back under your leadership. You had to meet so many challenges short term like managing the Brexit, fighting the virus, but at the same time you could also achieve success and advancement in building the Europe of the future which means a Europe which is greener, a Europe which is smarter and I could mention many many other initiatives which you have undertaken gender parity, biodiversity and so on and so on. So what is important is to have your voice now at this critical moment because everybody would agree that we have a short window at the beginning of this year to really restore trust and you are in the center of many activities which will be decisive whether humankind can re-establish trust into our future. So Madam President we look forward to what you have to share with us and maybe we have time for one or two questions. I'm pleased to invite the president of the European Commission Ursula van der Leyen to take the floor. Thank you very much dear Klaus, thank you ladies and gentlemen for inviting me again and indeed it's worth looking back. When I was with you in Davos a year ago Donald Trump's visit was at the center of attention and we were worried about the stability of our global alliances and climate activist Greta Thunberg was also on top of a guest list full of stars and indeed my speech focused on the European Green Deal and of course digitalization but at that time other news very quietly were coming to us from China and they were barely noticed by most of us. Few suspected at the time that this would be the start of a pandemic that a year later would still hold us in its grip and yet there were signs in Davos last January. Richard Hatchet for example the former White House pandemic advisor he was a lone voice when he said and I quote this is not a Chinese problem this is a problem for the whole world end of quote and he was to be proven right. And a year ago my bilateral talks revolved primarily around the question would for example the US government impose punitive tariffs on European car makers today a year later we are worrying about whether democracy itself might have been permanently damaged in the last four years and images like we saw a few weeks ago when an angry mob stormed the capital were beyond my imagination and yet the dangers that social media poses to our democracy were also already discussed in Davos. I remember sitting in a basement restaurant of my hotel with among others the business journalist Rana Forohar and the former Google developer Tristan Harris and you might have seen some of them in the documentary the social dilemma I can only recommend it. At that time the activists warned about the business models of big tech companies and the consequences for our democracy and they described how the economic laws of social media are eating away at the fabric of our society and how fake news from my algorithm spread six times faster than real news. They pinned their hopes on Europe because the European Union had already proven that it is able to set standards that are respected around the world such as with our general data protection regulation the GDPR. So the warning signs were already there in Davos. Ladies and gentlemen there is no better place than the World Economic Forum to find out about the major trends in our society or to be updated on what is keeping up at night entrepreneurs and philanthropists or managers and the NGO community to see how policymakers look at the future but sometimes you just have to listen carefully and this year the World Economic Forum is once again asking the right questions with your initiative Klaus the great reset we must learn from this crisis we have to change the way we live and do business to be able to keep what we value and hold dear. If temperatures keep rising and nature keeps disappearing we will see more natural disasters and zoonotic diseases we have spoken a lot about the links between biodiversity loss and COVID now we must move to action and to understand why I want you to accompany me to a remote village in Guinea just for a minute there a young boy playing next to a tree some years ago is thought to have been the first victim of one of the worst outbreaks of Ebola. A hollow tree had been infested by bats the animals had been pushed towards the village because 80 percent of forests in the region had been destroyed and we do not know exactly what happened there but what we do know is that the boy became gravely ill and died a little later and died a little later as did his sister and his pregnant mother and we do know just how tragic the repercussions were across Africa and the world and if we don't urgently act to protect our nature the next pandemic will be around the corner and to those who prefer the business case here it is more than half of global GDP is dependent on high functioning biodiversity and ecosystems and it is from food to tourism you just name it and in the last world economic forum global risk report the top five global risks are all related to the environment almost three-quarter of the earth's surface have been altered and we see the changes in our everyday lives less wilderness and wildlife increasing temperature and extreme weather and these developments are different sides of the same coin in fact they mutually reinforce each other when we lose forest we don't just lose green space or natural habitat we lose a key ally in our fight against climate change and this is why europe will soon present a legal framework for the restoration of healthy ecosystems it is why we will protect at least 30 percent of land and sea here in europe we are ready to broker the same ambition at global level at the next un biodiversity summit in kunming this will have to be like cop 21 was for climate because we need a paris style agreement for biodiversity dear friends this is one of the priorities of the european green deal i presented to you indeed in davos last year one year on this has not lost any of its urgency europe has set out to become the first continent to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and we have seen the momentum that this has generated from south korea to japan some south africa to china economic powerhouses around the world now share our ambition and i must say i'm delighted that the us has now rejoined the paris agreement in one of president biden's first acts in office and we have also stepped up our own ambition and action the first ever european climate law will hopefully soon come into force we have agreed a greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55 percent by 2030 we will put forward legislation to help us get there from renewables to emission trading from clean hydrogen to the circular economy and we have dedicated 37 percent of next generation eu that is our 750 billion euro recovery plan 37 percent dedicated to the european green deal but public funding alone will not be enough we all have a responsibility and we must all do our fair share and this is why i strongly support a growing culture of sustainable corporate governance companies who get ahead of the game now will have a big advantage we have seen that nature destruction can have the same impact for a company as major oil spills while for example fashion companies who use recycled material already have an additional selling point for their environmentally conscious cost customers and this is why we will propose to strengthen due diligence for companies and we will put forward legislation to ensure that the EU market does not drive deforestation on the other side of the world we know how important this is for investors who are looking for truly sustainable projects our european union green bonds standard for example and taxonomy will lead the way it will bring clarity on what accounts for sustainable eco-friendly activities we all benefit from nature and we all benefit from the protection it gives us so i think we all have to play our role in this game ladies and gentlemen a year ago at Davos we talked also intensively about digitalization the pandemic has massively accelerated the process the european union will dedicate 20 of next generation EU to digital projects to nurture innovative ecosystems for example where universities companies innovators can access data and they can cooperate to boost the vibrant startup scene we have in cities like sofia and lisbon and to become a global hub for artificial intelligence so that the 2020s can finally be europe's digital decade but for this to be a success we must also address the darker sides of the digital world like for so many of us the storming of the capital came as a shock to me i mean we are always quick to say democracy and values they are part of our dna and that's true but we must nurture our democracy every day and defend our institutions against the corrosive power of hate speech of disinformation fake news and incitement to violence and in a world where polarizing opinions are the loudest it is a short step from crude conspiracy theories to the death of a police officer and unfortunately the storming of the capital hill showed us how just true that is the business model of online platforms has an impact and not only and not only on free and fair competition but also on our democracies our security and on the quality of our information and that is why we need to contain this immense power of the big digital companies because we want the values we cherish in the offline world also to be respected online and at its most basic this means that what is illegal offline should be illegal online too and we want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work because we cannot accept that decisions that have a far-reaching impact on our democracy are taken by computer programs alone we want it clearly laid down that internet companies take responsibility for the manner in which they disseminate promote and remove content and no matter how tempting it may have been for twitter to switch off president trumps account such serious interference with freedom of expression should not be based on company rules alone there needs to be a framework of laws for such far-reaching decisions and this is why the commission launched the digital services act and the digital market act in december this is our new roll book for our digital market and i want to invite our friends in the united states to join our initiatives together we could create a digital economy rule book that is valid worldwide it goes from data protection and privacy to the security of critical infrastructure a body of rules based on our values human rights and pluralism inclusion and the protection of privacy so europe stands ready the challenges to our democracy the pandemic climate change in his inauguration speech president joe biden so aptly spoke of a cascade of crisis and indeed we face an outstanding set of challenges but we can meet them if we work together and that's what we all have to learn again after four long years that it is not a sign of weakness to reach out and help each other but a signal of strength and this spirit of cooperation is the only mindset which can help us tackle our challenges the pandemic has shown the limitations of some of our old ways of working but it has also created new ones in record time so take the vaccine that will hopefully protect us all from covid-19 what normally takes five to ten years to develop a vaccine was achieved in ten months because the world pooled its resources scientists shared their expertise and different manufacturers worked together the european union and others helped with money large sums were invested to build research capacities and production facilities early europe invested billions to help develop the world's first covid-19 vaccines to create a truly global common good and now the companies must deliver they must honor their obligations and this is why we will set up a vaccine export transparency mechanism europe is determined to contribute to this global common good but it also means business and this is also why early in the pandemic the european union together with organizations like the world economic forum or the gates foundation and global citizen organized pledging initiatives to mobilize funding for the global corona virus response in the covex vaccination alliance the european union together with 186 countries will be securing millions of doses of vaccines for low-income countries the point is that it is only by working together across borders and across sectors that we can tackle our global challenges no private company or public authority can do it alone and this is why i believe this new form of blended partnership should prepare and protect us against the next big risk this is a blueprint for cooperation in today's world we need to bring together the innovation and the capability of the private sector and the long-term vision and predictability and the funding of the public sector it is in this spirit that europe will propose to create a bio defense preparedness program this will be a public private part european health emergency response authority or in short hera this new program it will be proactive we cannot wait for the next pandemic to start preparing so this new program will be permanent and it will be fully dedicated to discovering and preparing for known and emergent pathogens and then developing and manufacturing vaccines at scale to respond to them second it would secure long-term and predictable funding for this task rather than reallocating resources every time and third it would bring together cutting-edge tech companies blue chip manufacturers as well as regulators such as the european medicine agencies or the european commission we know that preparedness is everything and we know that in a pandemic there's no time to lose we need this new public private approach to detect earlier develop together and manufacture faster at scale and this is not just true for pandemics or health it is true for all major societal challenges ladies and gentlemen from the protection of our democracy to the protection of our nature europe has everything to win from this new form of international and sectoral cooperation and we will reach out to our partners from around the world from foundations to global institutions from CEOs to NGOs and from our oldest partners across the atlantic to all those who want to join new alliances for new solutions this is what we will work for and i know i can count on you and the world economic forum to help us build it i hope to be able to continue to to continue this discussion with you soon for example a clause when we need hopefully in person at the special annual meeting in singapore and may and i thank you very much for your attention thank you very much ozala europe as you tell us and as we see is really taking the lead in the great reset effort which we need in order to shape our future in a more resilient in a more inclusive and in a more sustainable way i think we all were impressed because it was news for me to hear what you are doing to prepare for the next virus which certainly will hunt us if we are not sufficiently prepared for it and also what europe is doing in terms of the distribution of vaccines i just want to quote yesterday secretary general antonio keteris who said as long as not everybody is vaccinated nobody will feel safe of course you're mentioning the restoration of the ecosystem as a key priority and taking care of our planet in general i can assure you with this program with this virtual program about one third of the sessions are devoted to nature and here i want to highlight particularly our one trillion trees initiative to help and to create a coalition around the world to plant one trillion trees in this decade but what is what is essential is that business does not engage just in terms of a charity mentality i think business today is part as governments are of our society and has to work in public private partnerships really to to address all those issues and here i'm very pleased to say you mentioned the role of the EU in creating the necessary standards we will announce today late early this afternoon that companies representing several millions of employees commit to a first beginning if i may say so of standards ESG standards which can be compared and where companies really can be measured according to their performance not only in financial terms but what they really do for the planet and for the people i have one one question which probably is in the mind of many business leaders um when we look and it's a very practical question when we looked at the next generation EU and financed by the EU budget with 1.8 trillion and the objective is clearly to help companies to transit to climate neutrality by 2050 hopefully even earlier but how is the practical link between this huge amount and what business are doing how do you really translate this financial resource into practical business action yes klaus first of all the the principle there is on one part the european budget and on the other part there are national recovery plans that are guided by our overarching principles for example the investment in the european green deal and let's go to the principles in which we invest this is at the beginning innovation innovation we invest in innovation that is tailor made innovation to fight climate change because this is the the approach we think is the right one that it's our new growth strategy to move towards sustainable clean production ways in a circular economy the second point is interesting because you mentioned your initiative this afternoon this this is very interesting for us the second point is that indeed private capital is looking for sustainable solution to invest in those sustainable projects green projects and therefore we think it's important to create a framework for investment and by this to steal the private capital to innovation and green projects and we do this in two ways first of all we issue green bonds so the capital raised at the market for next generation eu a certain amount is issued or is raised by issuing green bonds and we are right now developing a taxonomy that is a standard for green projects and that's a framework for investment that would help investors who want to know whether project is sustainable or whether it's more or less green washing or whether it does potentially even harm to the environment and to help them with this this taxonomy is a framework that gives guidance then indeed the third point is carbon needs a price to send a clear market signal so we do that through the emission trading system which will be widened in europe and to protect the innovation because innovation at the beginning is not always competitive we develop a carbon border adjustment mechanism so that we can be sure that the the innovation competes on the quality and does not compete with carbon heavy other production old production ways and the fourth is of course the big big issue that's investment investment investment through next generation eu and there are myriad ways how business can benefit from next generation eu perhaps just very very briefly three examples one example is we want to start a european renovation wave because we know that buildings are responsible for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions so this is why we have set our goal to renovate in the european union 35 million houses in the next 10 years and when you think about renovation we talk about nature-based solutions climate-friendly material so all the innovative material you can use for that and it will be a strong incentive for the construction sector but it will also of course lower the costs for people who rent an apartment for example what energy is concerned so a cycle that is very very successful another example would be clean urban mobility for cities so we support cities who want to decarbonize their fleets of buses for example choosing clean energy sources and the the third example of many others is hydrogen we will create new european hydrogen valleys and the investment in hydrogen will have priority in next generation eu because hydrogen is a very good example to demonstrate on how we work together with the private sector so we have launched a european clean hydrogen alliance over 1000 companies have joined so far and with this alliance we want to look at the entire hydrogen value chain so from the production to the distribution and work on supply as well as on demand and and thus we synchronize the investments bringing together the demand and the supply side at european scale cross-border european scale so the principle here with this investment is when we manage to join forces that's the point when we see europe at its best and that is basically the essence of our single market and this is how we think we should move out of the corona world and shape our future thank you very much osala when i coined the expression reset and the great reset and wrote the book many people ask me what does it really mean in practice in the future i can say listen to the speech of the president of the european commission of today i i just want to highlight in in coming back to your speech one very important element and we we talked a lot about nature but i think what you said about a value space social governance system related to the utilization of the internet and all digital capabilities i think that's also a very important point in your speech thank you again for joining us and i look forward to seeing you hopefully in singapore when we have end of may and wishing you in the meantime particularly in fighting and wishing us all particularly in fighting this virus great progress and hopefully victory thank you osala thank you madame president