Davos 2019: Jacinda Ardern calls for environmental 'guardianship', as Bolsonaro alarms activists - live
Rolling coverage of the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, including appearances from Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Mike Pompeo, Sir David Attenborough and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern
- Ardern: World leaders must get on the right side of history on climate change
- Green activists says Bolsonaro threatens Amazon rainforest
- Pompeo on 'winds of change' such as Brexit
- Citi CEO says Brexit will go down to the wire
- Prince William interviews Attenborough (rather gently)
6.08pm GMT
Time for a recap after a busy day at Davos.
Today's been largely dominated by environmental concerns, with a side order of anxiety about the world economy and Brexit
Related: David Attenborough and Prince William take world leaders to task on environment
People are asking questions that haven't been asked, or taken seriously for an awfully long time.
6.06pm GMT
At least one of the UK's coach-load full of ministers has been working hard at Davos....
I just spoke to Rob Davies, South Africa's Minister for Trade shortly after he'd met for bilateral talks with Liam Fox. Davies told me South Africa is ready to agree a trade deal with the UK quickly once the UK leaves the EU. #Brexit #BBCDavos2019
5.38pm GMT
UK ministers have kept a low profile at Davos today (they've been busy with Brexit issues back home).
But a row is brewing, after it emerged that SEVEN ministers are due at WEF this week - rubbing shoulders with the global elite rather than focusing on helping find a Brexit deal.
EXC: A THIRD of Theresa May's Cabinet are in Davos this week in an unprecedented UK government delegation slammed as a "tax-payer funded freebie to sip champagne with the global elite."
https://t.co/wrJqVb7Wx4
2/ Seven top ministers - Chancellor Philip Hammond, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, International Development Secretary Penny Mourdant, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Business Secretary Greg Clark, Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright and Wales Secretary Alun Cairns are at WEF
3/ Jon Trickett Labour's Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "It's outrageous that while the county is crying out for a solution to the disastrous Tory Brexit deadlock, seven Cabinet ministers are swanning off on a tax-payer funded freebie to sip champagne..."
4/ Trickett: "...with the global elite.
"But then again, leaving other people to clean up their mess is what the Tory Party does best."
5/ James Roberts, Political Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "In the midst of Brexit, it makes a lot of sense for the PM to send her chancellor and trade minister out to bat for Britain. But taxpayers will be baffled why a whole coach load of ministers are turning up...
5.22pm GMT
More news from Davos: WEF have announced an "ambitious new global partnership to accelerate inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people " in the workplace.
Called the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality, it's designed to break down barriers and accelerate LGBTI inclusion in the workforce.
5.02pm GMT
In what is seemingly another veiled attempt to get Davos panellists to send a message to Trump, Al Gore asks Jacinda Arden to conjure a world leader in her mind.
It can be "man or woman" he says - trying to stay vague - who doesn't want to do anything about the climate crisis, and is "hostile" to any efforts to take action. What would you say to them, he asks.
Jacinda says she's not sure she would say anything at all but instead show something. "It only takes a trip to the Pacific to see that climate change isn't a hypothetical," and it doesn't even require any knowledge of the science behind it. She said someone from the Pacific islands could show you where they used to play as children and where the water has risen to now.
Then it's a matter of then saying that you don't have to cede power by acting on climate change, and assuring there's nothing to fear about their individual status. "It's about being on the right side of history," and being the politician looking back and knowing you were on the "right side" when the world was "crying out for a solution".
4.49pm GMT
4.46pm GMT
Jacinda Ardern says she aims to to bring the New Zealand Maori philosophy of 'guardianship' of the environment into politics.
She said the challenge is to deeply embed the infrastructure of long term change during a short political cycles that can be as short as three years.
"There's a reason to be optimistic." Jacinda remembers that just 10 years ago she was booed by other politicians, and even her own family, when talking about climate change and environmentalism.
4.43pm GMT
Back in the congress hall, Al Gore notes that the fastest growing job in the US is currently 'solar installer' which is growing 9 times faster than average national job growth.
The second is wind turbine technician, he said, adding that there's clearly an "opportunity for tens of millions of jobs" to be retrofitting buildings with this renewable technology.
"We can change. We want to change. But will we change?" asks @algore while chairing stellar panel on safeguarding the planet @Davos with @AttenboroughLyf Akira Sakano @anandmahindra @jacindaardern #NewDealForNature #GlobalWarming #Davos19 pic.twitter.com/QoW3iuICZ4
4.36pm GMT
Kristalina Georgieva, the acting head of the World Bank has told a panel on investing in fragile states that there are four big reasons why countries are in a bad way: conflict, climate, high population growth and bad governance.
One of the best ways to improve things was to empower women.
"In a crisis environment you give a sense of strength to women and you have a better chance of peace".
4.29pm GMT
Back in the congress hall, Al Gore has taken the stage to introduce the Safeguarding Our Planet session.
The panel includes Sir David Attenborough (he's been a busy man in the last 24 hours) and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.
With everyone sat down, they've again played a clip from Attenborough's upcoming Netflix series made in conjunction with the WWF. Our Planet is definitely getting a lot of mileage at Davos this year....
NZ PM Jacinda Ardern takes a prominent role in the panel on safeguarding the planet. #davisatdavos #Davos2019 @wef pic.twitter.com/diznywFAXo
@jacindaardern says one of the big challenges facing politics in taking action on climate change is the short-term political cycle: "We will create legislation that embeds doing each of those things that set us on a path to guardianship of the planet." #wef19
4.21pm GMT
Down the corridor from the Davos congress hall, the head of the World Bank is warning world leaders to help tackle extreme poverty, or face more security threats.
World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva is the latest Davos panellist stressing how social ills impact our interconnected world. She warns attendees "if we don't eradicate extreme poverty, there will no security for all of us. We're connected, like fish in a fish bowl"
4.15pm GMT
Environmental experts are alarmed by Jair Bolsonaro's insistence on balancing 'environmental protection with economic development'.
Jennifer Morgan, executive director for Greenpeace International, believes Bolsonaro's attitude to the Amazon is one of the biggest threats to the environment.
"We're working with allies, and we'll work to defend everything that we can because the Amazon isn't just an amazing forest, it's the lungs of the earth and it plays an incredibly important role in the climate."
"Bolsonaro was elected on a programme to deal with violence and criminality that kills 40-50000 people a year. My guess is that 100,000 die from air pollution."
"The ravages of climate change are becoming clearer and clearer and time is running out. But the alternative is becoming more attractive. I would like to think the arguments are sinking in."
3.39pm GMT
Pompeo wrapped up his 30 minute satellite link to Davos by denying that the US is isolated on the world stage.
That would be more convincing if the secretary of state wasn't addressing the global elite from 4,000 miles away (the ongoing shutdown is to blame there)
"I don't think we're remotely isolated," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says when asked about Trump's "America first" message and whether the US is isolated on the world stage.
Pompeo addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland via satellite https://t.co/AfEIFrfeM5 pic.twitter.com/WQBsO7WKqi
Mike Pompeo drops into Davos - via video link.
There's a palpable sense of the US's absence around this year's WEF Annual Meeting, which others are trying to fill. pic.twitter.com/emiHQlJWe4
3.31pm GMT
Q: Are the US and Russia doomed to cold war rivalry?
Pompeo jokily grumbles that he's not getting any easy questions.
3.28pm GMT
On the US-China trade war, Pompeo says he believes the two countries can have a bright future together.
But there's still much hard work to do; he cites the need for intellectual property protections for US companies working in China.
3.24pm GMT
On geopolitics, Pompeo says "We face many new threats, some not so new".
He cites:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in video speech to Davos crowd, praises the concept of "beautiful coalitions" (I swear that's what I heard; someone tell me if I got it wrong) and says: "We've also defeated the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq."
3.18pm GMT
Pompeo is now tooting Trumpian economics.
He says the US economy just grew at over 3% per year, wage growth is up, and female unemployment is a 65-year low.
3.14pm GMT
We are living in interesting times, Mike Pompeo tells Davos.
Voters have tuned out politicians and political alliance that they didn't were working in their interests.
People are asking questions that haven't been asked, or taken seriously for an awfully long time.
3.03pm GMT
It's all go here at Davos.
Jair Bolsonaro has left the stage, and he's been replaced by Mike Pompeo.
2.55pm GMT
Onto questions.
WEF founder Klaus Schwab asks Jair Bolsonaro what 'concrete steps' he will take to create his New Brazil.
2.48pm GMT
On economic issues, Bolsonaro says he is committed to opening up the Brazilian economy.
He cites his commitments to reform taxes and privatise assets.
I want a world of freedom, peace and democracy.
2.45pm GMT
Brazil is a paradise, Bolsonaro declares, adding proudly:
No other country in the world has as many forests as we do.
It is now our mission to make progress in harmonising environmental preservation and biodiversity, with the much needed economic development.
2.39pm GMT
President Bolsonaro begins by talking about the New Brazil which he is building.
He says he was victorious in last year's presidential race despite
I took office amid a great ethical, moral and economic crisis. I am committed to changing our history.
2.34pm GMT
It's time for the first major keynote speech - and the honour goes to Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro.
There's a lot of interest in Bolsonaro here at WEF, given his pledge to cut taxes, liberalise the Brazilian economy, and defeat socialism.
Related: Bolsonaro declares Brazil's 'liberation from socialism' as he is sworn in
2.23pm GMT
A group of arctic scientists, camped out at Davos to promote the climate change crisis, have welcomed Sir David Attenborough's comments.
We echo his calls for urgent action on climate change to prevent catastrophic changes to our planet through carbon emissions.
What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic, for example, extreme weather at mid-latitudes is a symptom of a warming Arctic.
1.56pm GMT
That's the end of the 'conversation' (disappointing, as I was hoping for more parenting insights from the Duke).
Let's just hope the world leaders at Davos were listening to Attenborough's warnings about the need to address climate change, now, before we've caused irreparable damage to the natural world.
1.50pm GMT
I'm delighted to report that Prince William has cracked a joke.
We're being shown a dramatic clip from Our Planet, of a glacier 'calving' -- a massive skyscraper-sized piece of ice, surging upwards and away from the rest of the sheet (making the most almighty din)
1.46pm GMT
Attenborough is now plugging his new TV venture, Our Planet, created with the World Wildlife Fund.
It'll be shown on Netflix, Attenborough says excitedly, saying that this will give a new audience for his work.
Now, with Netflix, it is possible for a show to be seen by 150 million people overnight.
1.42pm GMT
Q: Why will you be seeking a global deal for nature in 2020?
Attenborough says the Paris Agreement recognised the "paramount importance" of recognising that humans were raising the word's temperature, and must control it.
1.39pm GMT
Prince William isn't showing his hidden Jeremy Paxman here....but he does turn to the issue of how you balance capitalism and caring for the environment.
Attenborough says that great damage was caused in the past, when people though that economic progress inevitably came at the expense of the environment.
We are all one world.
1.37pm GMT
Attenborough is now explaining how the complexity of nature means humans can have a severe impact on the natural world.
At the start of the 20th Century, sea otters in the Pacific were hunted for their most luxurious fur, so they were hunted heavily.
The paradox that there have never been a time when ore people are out of touch from the natural world than they are now.
Need to realise that every breath we take, every mouthful of food, comes from the natural world - so if we damage that we damage ourselves.
1.31pm GMT
Q: Why have politicians been too slow to recognise the climate change problem?
Attenborough explains that the industrial revolution took humans away from nature, so we didn't recognise the true impact of our activity on the environment.
1.29pm GMT
Q: How urgent is the climate change crisis?
It's hard to overstate it, Attenborough replies.
1.27pm GMT
Prince William hardens up the questioning (a tiny notch), asking why Attenborough has become more vocal about environmental campaigning.
DA replies that earlier in his career, it seemed unlikely that humans could drive a whole species to extinction - or it if happened, it was a rarity.
1.24pm GMT
Q: How have technology changes affected the job of bringing nature to the public?
Sir David says it's gone two ways. A few decades ago, if you showed a shot of an armadillo, they thought 'my goodness, what is that' -- the quality didn't matter.
1.22pm GMT
Asked why his TV series have always proved so successful, Attenborough says he's not surprised - but that's thanks to the human capacity to be excited and amazed by the new.
He cites a small child turning over a small stone, and declaring "A slug, what a treasure!"
1.21pm GMT
Q: How has the world changed since you started your broadcasting career in the 1950s?
Sir DA explains that back in those days, the world felt unexplored and exciting. Visiting the Tropics for the first time, everywhere you turned you saw something new.
You really got the feeling about how it must have been in the Garden of Eden.
1.18pm GMT
WEF's founder Klaus Schwab is introducing Prince William and Sir David Attenborough now, for a dialogue on nature
The Duke begins by congratulating Sir David for winning the crystal award from the World Economic Forum last night.
1.14pm GMT
This session is called "A Conversation with Sir David Attenborough and HRH the Duke of Cambridge", which sounds jolly cosy....
....except this particular conversation is happening on a big stage, in a room that seats thousands.
1.10pm GMT
There's a buzz building inside the Davos congress centre, as delegates flock towards its cavernous hall.
Prince William has now been sighted, and will be interviewing Sir David Attenborough shortly.
Spotted in #Davos: #princewilliam arriving to interview Sir David Attenborough on his life and his work highlighting the natural world. #climateaction #wef19 #worldeconomicforum @wef #ClimateActionNow pic.twitter.com/lXxzN3LRsx
The Holocene has ended. The Garden of Eden is no more.
We have changed the world so much that scientists say we are in a new geological age: the Anthropocene, the age of humans,
Related: David Attenborough tells Davos: 'The Garden of Eden is no more'
1.02pm GMT
David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee and the former Labour foreign secretary is speaking on a panel about the humanitarian crises that will shape 2019. He says the world is suffering from "a crisis of diplomacy".
We're seeing a retreat by the major global diplomatic players in a way that creates a vacuum in a way that we believe are contributors to the rising levels of violence and humanitarian tragedy that we see.
I'm here in Davos because I believe that at a time when governments are in retreat, NGOs and the corporate sector have to step up, and that's what we're hoping to see this week.
12.56pm GMT
Citi's CEO Mike Corbat also told Davos that he's worried about the people caught up in the US government shutdown, and "the hardship" that is being created.
12.52pm GMT
Michael Corbat, chief executive officer of Citigroup, has told Davos that Brexit means his firm will be doing less work in London.
Speaking at a lunch organised by Bloomberg, Corbat explained that Citi have already taken precautions for Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal - but wouldn't say how much it will cost.
From Citi's perspective, from the industry's perspective, as for many businesses, we've had no choice but to prepare for a hard Brexit, as its likely we will come down to the wire.
Hopefully reason will prevail and we'll strike a balanced outcome for each of the parties, but in some ways it's a difficult situation.
The outcome is that we will be doing less there.
If you look at our business there, a third of our business is UK related. About a third is Europe-related, and about a third is rest of world.
Now live from Davos - World Economic Forum, interview with @Citi CEO Mike Corbat. #wef #worldeconomicforum2019 pic.twitter.com/sCkDj5qiqd
12.42pm GMT
Matt Damon is in Davos, as part of his campaign for clean water:
Matt Damon and Gary White discuss the world's water crisis at Bloomberg Year Ahead event #wef19 https://t.co/jJI4gQupCQ
12.23pm GMT
Christine Lagarde has been speaking to CNBC about the IMF's 2019 outlook.
She says there is a lot of uncertainty facing the global economy, not least the trade war between the US and China, and the outcome of Brexit talks.
Brexit, world trade, China's economic growth - IMF Managing Director Christine @Lagarde discusses her 2019 outlook with @SaraEisen at #WEF18 https://t.co/SD4T1q9Ymq pic.twitter.com/lxpPVEDx8b
12.13pm GMT
A quick recap on European markets, where losses have widened as afternoon trading gets underway:
11.27am GMT
Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, says the chances of a no-deal Brexit are getting bigger every day. Speaking in Davos he said Brexit was a "systemic" issue, with far-reaching consequences.
The chance of a no-deal Brexit "is getting bigger every day," OECD's secretary general says https://t.co/3rj7uHLbSq #wef19 pic.twitter.com/bYOFIYB8UD
10.30am GMT
The World Economic Forum has some bad news for the US government -- reskilling its workforce to thrive in the new technological age will cost $34bn. And Washington will have to pick up most of the bill.
WEF has calculated that it will only be profitable for companies to reskill around 25% of the nearly 15 million workers who will be forced out of the jobs market by automation in the next decade.
Who should pay for the reskilling revolution?
Our new report looks at the cost of retraining workers displaced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution: https://t.co/LQInBnNhbs @zahidi #wef19 #skills pic.twitter.com/fb66n61Ysb
10.23am GMT
The latest wages and jobs report also showed another record high for UK employment.
The number of people in work rose by 141,000 in the three months to November to 32.53m, easily beating economists' forecasts of 85,000.
The number of people working grew again, with the share of the population in work now the highest on record. Meanwhile, the share of the workforce looking for work and unable to find it remains at its lowest for over 40 years, helped by a record number of job vacancies.
Wage growth continues to outpace inflation, which fell back slightly in the latest month.
10.19am GMT
The head of Swiss banking giant UBS is cautiously optimistic that the Brexit crisis will be resolved, but wants to see more compromises...
The panel quickly shifts to Brexit, with Axel Weber reiterating some cautious optimism. He says closer involvement from British Parliament gives some reassurances but ultimately we need more "compromises on the table" pic.twitter.com/upz9kajIVM
10.16am GMT
The free-market Institute for Economic Affairs think tank does not usually side with the anti-globalisation movement but on one thing they do agree: Davos is a bit of a racket.
Philip Booth, an IEA fellow, said the annual January shindig was the perfect environment for "crony capitalism" to flourish.
"Industry is shaped by the dispersed decisions of seven billion consumers and tens of millions of businesses. It is not - or should not - be shaped by politicians. Yet Davos remains a huge magnet for politicians to work alongside leaders of the largest businesses and other vested interests to devise yet more regulations, interventions and barriers to entry that will undermine competition, by making it even harder for small businesses to operate in their markets.
"The gathering perpetuates the myth that economic welfare is promoted by "experts". Next year, our government officials should sit the conference out, and leave Davos to the skiers."
9.59am GMT
One of China's top financial regulators has told Davos that the country's economy is indeed slowing (as IHS's Nariman Behravesh just warned us) , but it's not a disaster.
Fears over China first on the docket on the Davos global financial risk panel. But the vice-chair of China Securities Regulatory Commission stresses "we should not overreact." "China is slowing down but it's not going to be a disaster"
He points out that the top-down approach in China has helped the country take swift action to make sure financial risk doesn't spread. It's part of how China has "avoided financial crises over the last 40 years" which is almost unheard of in the developed world
9.57am GMT
In the UK, figures just published show that pay grew at its fastest rate since 2008 at the end of last year, handing some good news to cash-strapped consumers.
Pay (including bonuses) grew by 3.4% between September to November, compared with the same period in 2017 according to the ONS. It was the fastest rate since May to July 2008, before the global financial crisis had unleashed the worst of its effects. Economists had predicted growth of 3.3%, unchanged from the previous three months.
9.56am GMT
Nariman Behravesh, the chief economist of IHS Global Insight warns that global growth is slowing around the world.
"This year the chances of a recession are around one in three but next year I see it as 50-50", he tells us, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
"For 2021 there is the same risk. Growth will be slow enough that it wouldn't take much of a shock to push it into recession."
"I am worried about China. It is surprising how fragile it is starting to look. All of a sudden the juggernaut is starting to look wobbly."
9.54am GMT
You can read more details of Mohammed Hassan Mohamud's remarkable journey from two decades in a refugee camp to Davos here.
At 28, Mohammed is the youngest Zonal Chairman at Kakuma, which was established in 1992 after the arrival of the 'Lost Boys of Sudan'. These were about 20,000 children, mostly boys, who were separated from their families during conflict, trekking enormous distances to find refuge.
We have adequate water. And obviously, it's not enough, but it's there. Like one tap. Our homes are made of iron sheets. We also have some services, access to medical facilities and the World Food Programme provides rations once a month.
"But what I deal with is mainly psychological. People go crazy sometimes. Often, when outside people meet refugees, they only look at the physical suffering and the physical need. 'This person is injured, this person is hungry or homeless', and that's solved by donating food or giving shelter.
9.33am GMT
Philipp Hildebrand, vice chairman of BlackRock (the world's largest fund manager) warns there could be a "violent" market reaction to a no-deal Brexit.
He told Bloomberg TV in Davos:
If we're realistic we have to say there is little chance of the deal going through in its current form.
So there is no Brexit on the one hand which could take various forms - the most modest one would be a delay initially - or a hard Brexit. A hard Brexit would be a dramatic event which I believe today is under-appreciated by the market.
9.14am GMT
One of the co-chairs at this year's Annual Meeting is being Mohammed Hassan Mohamud - a 28-year old refugee.
Mohammed has spent the last 20 years confined to Kenya's Kakuma camp. He has no passport, no official date of birth and has never been anywhere outside the semi-arid climate of Sub-Saharan Africa - until this week, when WEF have brought him to Davos.
I don't know what you're afraid of. Refugees are real people.
We are just like other people. We have aspirations, we have dreams and we have needs.
It surprises me that money and capital moves around the moves in seconds, but it takes a refugee decades - or in the case of my mother, she never got out. Waiting for 25 year for a change to call somewhere home.
9.04am GMT
Davos attendees may be worried about climate change, but many are still choosing to arrive by private jet.
Davos doesn't have its own airfield and, whilst we have several clients who fly into the town by helicopter, the four main airfields that private jet users attending the forum use are Zi1/4rich, Di1/4bendorf, St. Gallen-Altenrhein and St. Moritz.
"Working with WingX, we looked at private jet activity at those airports over the six days of each WEF week since 2013 - from one day before the event to one day after. Last year was the busiest year for private jets so far, showing an 11% increase on 2017, with more than 1,300 aircraft movements. If we see a similar increase this year, we could be looking at almost 1,500 aircraft movements over the six days.
9.03am GMT
Roland Rudd is in Davos and has been speaking about Brexit. The veteran PR man says the UK would "feel the pinch" very soon if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and that the rest of the world is "amazed we're having this conversation".
CEOs are "genuinely flabbergasted" that a no-deal Brexit could be a possibility, PR veteran Roland Rudd says https://t.co/3rj7uHLbSq #wef19 pic.twitter.com/JtwsGkH7Mx
8.46am GMT
An early Davos mystery.....
Swift changover of panel sessions in the Davos conference centre. Next panel briefly advertised Goldman boss David Solomon, but he's no longer listed. They even wheeled out a chair and name display for him but organisers have since whisked it away
8.45am GMT
Davos Man and Woman are discussing the impact of strategic changes on their businesses.
And after the raw greed and avarice that led to the financial crisis, it's refreshing to hear a bank boss argue in favour of financial regulation:
Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan says a lack of banking regulation would inevitably lead to a loss of people's cash. "It's the same reason you have a speed limit on a highway" pic.twitter.com/4LRIZJWiJL
Google's CFO Ruth Porat says the tech giant is supportive of data and tax rules like GDPR and the OECD's broad tax initiative. She says Google wants users to "trust" that the firm is "doing what we should" #Davos
8.32am GMT
We just caught up with Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of the UNI global union, which represents 20 million service sector workers - from cleaners to Hollywood film directors - in 150 countries.
She said her message to the executives gathered in Davos was the need for a new social contract to revive collective bargaining, manage the change brought about by new technology and spread the benefits of growth more widely.
"Workers think globalisation for the elite, that Davos is for the elite. Where does that leave our global institutions and global trade. If we want a globalised economy it can't just be for corporations."
Related: World's 26 richest people own as much as poorest 50%, says Oxfam
"There is no sense of sacrifice. There needs to be a transfer of wealth from one set of pockets to another."
8.31am GMT
Global growth fears appear to be weighing on investor minds this morning, with European markets down in early trading following falls in Asia.
The International Monetary Fund cut global growth forecasts on Monday, warning that a sharper slowdown in China and a no-deal Brexit are the biggest risks in 2019.
China's "significant" slowdown is the biggest global business worry just now, according to Adair Turner of the Institute for New Economic Thinking https://t.co/3rj7uHLbSq #wef19 pic.twitter.com/FKyvv02xcV
8.26am GMT
Disappointingly, this year's Davos is missing several key world leaders.
Donald Trump pulled out earlier this month, to focus on the US government shutdown.
8.07am GMT
Good morning from Davos, where the first day of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting is underway.
Related: David Attenborough tells Davos: 'The Garden of Eden is no more'
Related: Pre-Davos survey shows sixfold rise in global CEOs' gloom
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