Juno News - May 23, 2022


The WEF's climate agenda in their own words


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

174.1029

Word Count

917

Sentence Count

44

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Guten Tag from Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum's annual meeting,
00:00:04.580 the first in over two years in person, is taking place.
00:00:08.700 Officially it started yesterday, but most of that was just VIP arrival.
00:00:12.440 You saw them in their private jets coming in limos.
00:00:15.240 Today is when the programming started, and they did not waste time
00:00:19.200 getting into the big picture issues they want to solve, like climate change.
00:00:23.080 In the panel discussions this morning, there was a remarkable amount of candor
00:00:26.580 about just what it is they want to do to transition away from reliance on fossil fuels
00:00:31.280 and, as a result, transition away from the jobs that depend on the fossil fuel industry, on oil and gas.
00:00:38.000 One individual who was on a panel, a CEO of a Norwegian financial institution,
00:00:43.080 admitted and didn't actually have a problem with the fact that there would be, in her words,
00:00:47.120 pain from the process.
00:00:48.980 We need to accept that there will be some pain in the process.
00:00:53.880 The pace that we need will open up for missteps.
00:00:59.800 It will open up for shortages of energy.
00:01:03.080 It will create inflationary pressures, and maybe we need to start talking about that,
00:01:07.040 that that pain is actually worth it.
00:01:09.440 Because if we don't, there's no business case, there's no economy, there's no welfare.
00:01:14.800 But so far I think we have been a little bit careful actually talking about the pain in the short term
00:01:20.380 that is likely to come from this very important change.
00:01:24.660 And as you heard, no denying there was going to be pain from inflationary pressures,
00:01:28.740 from energy shortages, other economic challenges.
00:01:31.880 She was speaking specifically, just to contextualize that clip,
00:01:35.180 about small and medium businesses who she admitted moments earlier
00:01:38.300 were much less suited to deal with this challenge.
00:01:41.300 But she said, don't worry, all that pain is worth it.
00:01:44.980 All that pain is worth it.
00:01:46.080 It's all good.
00:01:46.680 We're all going to benefit in the long run.
00:01:48.080 So what's the problem?
00:01:49.680 And there's a big disconnect here between the elites in politics and business
00:01:53.400 who are running these discussions,
00:01:55.300 and those who are affected by the policies when they're put into effect.
00:01:59.340 But fear not, we're in good hands.
00:02:00.980 As Klaus Schwab said, the chairman of the World Economic Forum this morning,
00:02:04.360 all of the people in the room at Davos are the ones who can actually get together
00:02:08.140 and change the future, as long as they work together.
00:02:11.620 Let's also be clear.
00:02:14.640 The future is not just happening.
00:02:16.400 The future is built by us, by a powerful community, as you here in this room.
00:02:25.080 We have the means to improve the states of the world.
00:02:30.060 But two conditions are necessary.
00:02:32.780 The first one is that we act all as stakeholders of larger communities,
00:02:42.160 that we serve not only our self-interests, but we serve the community.
00:02:48.820 That's what we call stakeholder responsibility.
00:02:52.100 And second, that we collaborate.
00:02:54.600 And this is the reason why you find many opportunities here during the meeting
00:03:00.880 to engage into very action and impact-oriented initiatives
00:03:07.700 to make progress related to specific issues on the global agenda.
00:03:14.260 And when I speak about the candor that a lot of these discussions have been approached with
00:03:18.280 from the members of these panels,
00:03:20.620 I'd be remiss to not point out this mention from the Vice-Chancellor of Germany,
00:03:24.860 who talked about how we might even need to change the fundamental rules of the markets
00:03:29.300 to put all of these changes in effect.
00:03:31.580 And he said countries shouldn't actually look out for their own interests first and foremost,
00:03:35.080 but should look out for the global interest and the global market.
00:03:38.400 First of all, I would say that we have to stick to global markets.
00:03:44.980 If we are now, and this is a tendency I feel everywhere in the world,
00:03:48.360 also in my country as well, also in Europe,
00:03:50.680 if we are now saying, okay, first of all,
00:03:53.900 Germany and other countries are caring for themselves,
00:03:56.680 then we will increase the crisis.
00:04:00.040 If we are only caring for our own food supply or energy supply,
00:04:04.700 it must have a disastrous effect on the prices, on the markets.
00:04:08.840 So first of all, we have to keep the markets open.
00:04:11.740 Second, we have to see that we have to solve one problem,
00:04:16.760 not on the back of another one.
00:04:18.780 So if we are now increasing the production of fossil fuels
00:04:22.220 and coal power plants all over the place,
00:04:25.800 there's a draw to India, you mentioned it,
00:04:28.160 we will definitely have more problems in the next years to come.
00:04:33.160 Now, one of the reasons I came to Davos was to demystify
00:04:35.800 a lot of what's dismissed as conspiracy theory.
00:04:38.340 Now, make no mistake, there are a lot of conspiracy theories
00:04:40.600 about the World Economic Forum, about Klaus Schwab.
00:04:43.120 I'm focused on what they're saying in their own words
00:04:45.480 about the agenda, their word, not mine,
00:04:47.900 that they want to use around the world
00:04:49.800 and in the countries that are supportive of this agenda.
00:04:52.960 One of the speakers on the program this week
00:04:55.700 is Francois-Philippe Champagne,
00:04:57.180 Canada's Innovation and Industry Minister,
00:04:59.000 who will be speaking about the jobs of tomorrow,
00:05:01.220 again, transitioning away from the jobs
00:05:03.880 that Canada and Canadians rely on
00:05:06.100 in the oil and gas sector.
00:05:07.660 It's hidden plain as day right here for all to see,
00:05:10.680 and we're only on day one.
00:05:12.180 From Davos at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
00:05:14.540 for True North, I'm Andrew Lawton.