The climate in Davos

A newsletter from POLITICO for leaders building a sustainable future.

Jan 16, 2024 View in browser   By Jordan Wolman With help from Allison Prang, Zachary Warmbrodt and Mallory Culhane  THE BIG IDEA High-profile officials from around the world are gathering in Davos, Switzerland, this week. | Markus Schreiber/AP Photo DESCENDING ON DAVOS — If you thought COP28 was a whole lot of talk with little concrete action, you haven't seen anything yet. At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting taking place in Switzerland this week, the talk is the whole point. The Davos confab is now upon us — and it includes a smorgasbord of climate and sustainability agenda items running the gamut from climate impacts on human health to biodiversity loss. Unlike COP, there’s no formal mission or specific policy outcomes or commitments meant to be worked toward and delivered by the end of the swanky Swiss forum. But many of the world’s leading companies and top officials including World Bank President Ajay Banga, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, climate envoy John Kerry and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen deem it important enough to be on the ground. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity for global leaders to interact in the wake of the world’s hottest year on record and just six weeks after COP28 — even if it does give off Climate Week vibes. “Every opportunity where there’s private sector players available is an opportunity to discuss the importance of climate and the agenda and the opportunity for private sector players, and try and understand what holds them back and see if the bank or institutions like the bank can be removers of obstacles,” Banga told our Zachary Warmbrodt in an interview. Look out for certain climate technologies to get some buzz at this year’s conference. Carbon removal advocates are poised to make a case for their technology — buoyed by Biden administration funding and COP28 negotiations that made a not-so-subtle distinction in urging nations to address “unabated” fossil fuels, a likely nod to the technology. Some carbon removal industry leaders are attending WEF for the first time and hosting their own events, Allison Prang reports. Andreas Aepli, the chief financial officer for Swiss-based carbon removal company Climateworks, said the industry has grown exponentially in the last two years and that there are now enough examples of early adoption to attract more policy support and corporate commitments. “We’re going a lot bigger this year,” he said. “This year is really the year that this will accelerate.” Davos is also seen sometimes by high-profile leaders as an opportunity to get a little more real and reflective. Who could forget last year’s moment of ESG reckoning by BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink? “It's not really the space where we'd expect to see loads of announcements coming to the fore,” said Andy Garraway, climate policy lead at climate analytics firm Risilience and a former U.K. climate negotiator. “But one of the key things is it's an opportunity for businesses and policymakers to get together behind closed doors and an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, this is what was agreed at COP. What are we actually going to do about it?’” EXTREMES DISCONTENT CREATORS — A new study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate has found that YouTube content containing climate change denial claims or downplaying global warming impacts and solutions has doubled since 2018, our Mallory Culhane reports. CCDH, a misinformation research nonprofit, used an AI model to analyze more than 12,000 YouTube video transcripts that collectively had 325 million views. The videos were gathered from 96 accounts known to promote climate denial claims from January 2018 to September 2023. The analysis found that channels promoting climate denial claims have shifted from “old denial” — claims such as “global warming isn’t happening” — to “new denial” — such as “the impacts of global warming are beneficial or harmless,” or attacks on climate science, tech and researchers. Content touting new denial statements accounted for 70 percent of denialist claims, up from 35 percent in 2018. On the flip side, old denial claims dropped from 65 percent in 2018 to 30 percent in 2023. CCDH is calling on YouTube to amend its policy on climate change content, arguing that it doesn’t adequately cover new denial claims, and improve enforcement of policies prohibiting monetization of content containing false claims. “Debate or discussions of climate change topics, including around public policy or research, is allowed,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. “When content crosses the line to climate change denial, we stop showing ads on those videos. We also display information panels under relevant videos to provide additional information on climate change and context from third parties.” DATA DIVE SURVEY SAYS — Two new reports offer a glimpse into what leading business executives are thinking about as Davos kicks off and 2024 begins. Here are some of the most relevant takeaways related to sustainability: — Corporate boards are more concerned about climate impacts compared with CEOs and the C-Suite, according to The Conference Board’s C-Suite Outlook 2024 report. — Seven in 10 CEOs and 75 percent of C-Suite executives say their companies are handling ESG backlash well, compared with just 56 percent of board members, the report found. — U.S. CEOs lag their global peers in several climate-related metrics, according to PwC’s latest annual global CEO survey. Just 59 percent of U.S. respondents said that incorporating climate risk into financial planning is either planned, in progress or completed, below the 66 percent of global respondents. U.S. CEOs are also trailing global CEOs in improving energy efficiency, introducing new climate-friendly products or services, and selling climate-resilient products or services. YOU TELL US  GAME ON — Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. Join us every Tuesday as we keep you in the loop on the world of sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us all at gmott@politico.com, jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Sign up for the Long Game. It's free! WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — Michigan and more than a dozen other states are moving to supersede local governments’ ability to block clean energy projects, the Associated Press reports. — A global oversupply of chemicals used to create new plastic has made it uneconomical to use recycled material, according to the Financial Times. — Volkswagen is expanding its pursuit of technology to create “solid-state” batteries that backers see as the “holy grail” for the electric car industry. Reuters has that one.   Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service