His Majesty The King attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where he delivered a keynote address on the topic of the Sustainable Markets Council. The Council was launched in June 2019 with the support of the World Economic Forum and aims to accelerate a transition to sustainable markets while helping the global economy become more environmentally friendly.
His Majesty outlined 10 practical actions to drive the approach, including identifying game-changers and barriers to transition and investing in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) and innovation. The Prince added:
Do we want to go down in history as the people who did nothing to bring the world back from the brink, in trying to restore the balance, when we could have done? I don’t want to. And just think for a moment – what good is all the extra wealth in the world, gained from “business as usual”, if you can do nothing with it except watch it burn in catastrophic conditions?
This is why I need your help, your ingenuity and your practical skills to ensure that the private sector leads the world out of the approaching catastrophe into which we have engineered ourselves.
Following the speech, His Majesty met with Swedish environmental campaigner, Greta Thunberg. The activist also addressed attendees on the theme of this year’s annual meeting, Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable Word.
His Majesty, who has long spoken about the importance of environmental action and highlighted sustainability, last attended the World Economic Forum in 1992.
