Amid a complex geopolitical environment, nearly 3,000 leaders – with over 350 public figures including more than 50 heads of state and government – from more than 125 countries, business leaders, international organizations, civil society representatives, scholars and innovators convened for the 54th Annual Meeting under the theme “Rebuilding Trust”.

The meeting served as a platform for dialogue and solutions through 450 sessions, bringing together diverse perspectives. Throughout the week, the Forum and its partners advanced more than 50 initiatives, serving as enduring frameworks for multi-year cooperation between the public and private sectors.

World leaders articulated the need to rebuild trust in the face of fragmentation. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted how geopolitical divides are hindering collective action on global challenges. Premier Li Qiang of the People’s Republic of China stressed the imperative of increasing unity, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored the inflection points the world faces and urged deeper global collaboration.

Highlighting the importance of taking a systemic view of the climate and nature crisis, Ajay S. Banga, President of the World Bank, emphasized the inseparability of poverty eradication from climate action, healthcare and food security. Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, highlighted leaders’ responsibility to act decisively for the planet’s future, even in the face of potential unpopularity.

Alongside them, French President Emmanuel Macron urged a balance between realism and optimism in tackling complex global challenges, emphasizing the agency of leaders to effect meaningful change. Secretary of State of the US, Antony Blinken, was also clear on the need for global partnerships and cooperation in solving the world’s biggest challenges, including the war in Ukraine and shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor of the United States, reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for renewed investment in his country and proposed a potential global summit for peace. To support this effort and in advance of the Annual Meeting, more than 80 national security advisers from governments and international organizations met in Davos to discuss a blueprint for peace in Ukraine at the Fourth National Security Advisors Meeting, hosted by Switzerland in collaboration with the Forum. Seventy chief executive officers from Forum partner companies and European leaders discussed this at the Annual Meeting, including Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Meanwhile, discussions on the Middle East conflict highlighted the urgent need for international action to prevent escalation and promote peace and humanitarian support.

During the Annual Meeting, many Forum initiatives made progress, including the Global Collaboration Village, the AI Governance Alliance, the Centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, the Global Lighthouse Network, the First Movers Coalition for Food, the Future of Growth Initiative and the TradeTech Global initiative.

Continuing with its long-standing tradition, the Forum hosted the 15th Annual Meeting of New Champions (AMNC) in Dalian, People’s Republic of China in June 2024. The meeting, opened by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, brought together over 1,600 leaders, including more than 100 public figures and 800 business leaders. The meeting saw a record number of innovators across the Forum’s innovators communities, UpLink and social innovators who engaged actively in the programme. It also saw the participation of President Andrzej Duda of Poland, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Viet Nam and Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, among other leaders.

Convened under the theme “Next Frontiers for Growth”, the meeting helped leaders address the challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly evolving global landscape. Participants reiterated the need to deepen cooperation in key areas such as climate change, trade and innovation. In the lead-up to and during the event, the Forum and its partners launched or advanced around 20 initiatives and reports, including the Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2024 report and the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024 report.

The meeting also saw the release of the Responsible AI Playbook for Investors, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship’s report on AI for social innovation. Several key initiatives progressed, including the New Generation Industry Leaders programme, the Industry Net Zero Accelerator initiative and the Future of Growth Initiative. Overall, the meeting forged partnerships and highlighted innovative solutions that can help rejuvenate the global economy and identify new models for sustainable and inclusive growth.

In April 2024, the Forum convened the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The meeting came at a critical geopolitical moment when mounting security, economic and environmental challenges demanded leadership from the public and private sectors.

It brought together over 1,000 global leaders and experts from 90 countries, including 220 public figures. Participants included Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Bisher Hani Al Khasawneh, Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Mostafa Kamal Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt; Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority; Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of Nigeria; Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; and Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Among the primary outcomes were the development of the Forum’s Future of Growth Initiative, the establishment of the Centre for Space Futures, Oman and Cyprus joined the Digital FDI (foreign direct investment) initiative and UpLink, the Forum’s open innovation platform, launched a new Circular Carbon Economy initiative.

In September 2023, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Forum reconvened its communities of purpose for the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings. At the heart of the meetings were a series of 60 curated peer-to-peer dialogues alongside 12 live-streamed sessions for the public.

The meetings brought together more than 1,000 global leaders, including 600 business leaders, more than 80 chief executive officers and chairpersons, and 100 public figures. Among the public figures were four heads of state and government, eight heads of international organizations, 25 foreign affairs ministers and 15 environment ministers.

The Sustainable Development Impact Meetings convened against a backdrop of interconnected crises and at the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda. As the world grappled with a low-growth, high-debt economic environment and high levels of inflation and food insecurity, the meetings served as a critical platform to respond to these challenges and revive momentum for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The meetings also informed work towards other milestones, including COP28 and the Annual Meeting 2024.

The meetings brought together members of the Forum’s Communities of Purpose spanning sectors, generations and geographies, seeking to address global challenges and transform prior commitments into action.

At the meeting, more than 50 organizations signed a Humanitarian and Resilience Investing Initiative call to action to mobilize $10 billion for businesses in frontier markets to support vulnerable communities. Participants also advanced work on the Reskilling Revolution, which aims to provide one billion people with better education, skills and learning by 2030. Meanwhile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Zambia joined nine other countries as members of the Global Plastic Action Partnership.

May’s Industry Strategy Meeting 2024 brought together more than 300 strategy officers – top executives responsible for corporate strategy – under the theme “Shaping Business Transformation in an Era of Disruption”. By building on the lessons and takeaways from the Annual Meeting 2024, participants had the opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer exchanges, explore and anticipate future industries, advance the Forum’s action and impact agenda, and forge collaborations.

The meeting, an annual milestone for the strategy officers engaged in the Forum’s 22 Global Industry Communities, helped advance the overall industry agenda. It defined four priorities for the year ahead: technology as a driving force for companies, workers, the economy and society; climate and nature and the latest strategies to accelerate the energy transition; cooperation as a new competitive advantage in a context of increasing competition; and next-generation economic and industrial policies in a new global era.

The meeting’s outcomes were designed to inform the scope and direction of the Forum’s industry communities and to scale up and magnify the impact of the existing initiatives of the Forum’s 10 centres.