World Economic Forum kicks off in Davos amid fears of a recession

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Davos 2023 opened its doors to the global elite almost one year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began and amid growing fears of a recession.

This year's World Economic Forum is themed 'cooperation in a fragmented world.'

Børge Brende, World Economic Forum President said: “So much is at stake we really need to find solutions on the wars and conflicts. We also have to secure that we don’t go into recession and we have ten years of low growth as we had in the 1970s."

The Ukraine House

The Ukraine House is a virtual house at Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris which welcomes students and researchers affected by the war.

It'll feature for the fifth time in Davos, but with a focus on the need for weapons to fight the ongoing conflict.

Svitlana Greytsenko, Victor Pinchuk Board Member and Ukraine House Davos Organising Committee Member said: "We don’t have weapons, we don’t have patriots (missiles) we don’t have other things that are available in other countries. So, weapons are the top priority for us."

Oxfam International

A new report by the international NGO Oxfam calls for large food corporations to pay more in taxes, as a way to narrow the widening gap between the rich and poor and "to end crisis profiteering".

Oxfam says wealthy companies are using the war as an excuse to pass on even bigger price hikes.

"The richest 1% grabbed two-thirds of all new wealth since 2020. So that's double, almost double what 99% of humanity had in terms of new wealth during that time," said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director for Oxfam International. 

The study says that 95% of countries failed to increase taxation to the richest people and corporations and that 95 energy and food companies doubled their profits in 2022 when one in ten people across the world goes hungry every day.

[Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct the link to Ukraine House Davos]