Davos: Pharrell Williams kicks off World Economic Forum

The 45th World Economic Forum kicked off in Davos, Switzerland, today with a "call to action" on climate change from musician Pharrell Williams and former vice-president Al Gore.

Politicians, business leaders and other powerful figures from across the world have descended on the small ski resort for four days of talks on the global economy.

Singer Pharrell is best known for his musical hits such as Happy and Blurred Lines, but he is also creative director and brand ambassador for Bionic Yarn, which turns recycled plastic into durable textiles.

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He and Gore gave a presentation this morning, demanding action on climate change.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko will be attending a discussion about the future of his country later today, although he is cutting short his visit because of the violence between government troops and pro-Russian separatists back home.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will be talking about the "global impact of China's economic transformation" and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will give a special address before lunch.

Europe's economic difficulties and rising geopolitical risks, such as the Ukraine crisis and the rise of Islamic State, are high on this week's agenda. Other topics include pandemics such as Ebola, cyber security and oil.

Trade union leaders also marked the start of the Forum with a call for businesses to prevent social unrest by tackling inequality and unemployment.

While Davos has a reputation for expensive parties and cosy meetings between business leaders and presidents, the tension between "saving the world and having a blast" may be "particularly acute" this year, says the New York Times.

"The World Economic Forum takes place less than two weeks after the Paris terrorist attacks and amid a shift in global power politics caused by the plunge in oil prices," says the newspaper.

While partying has not been forbidden, all participants have had to sign an agreement to only hold outside events that are "consistent with the mission of improving the world".

Davos: what's the point of the World Economic Forum?

19 January

The World Economic Forum takes place in the Swiss alpine resort Davos this week. Powerful people from government, business, academia and other institutions will get together to discuss the global economy and, in some cases, enjoy a spot of skiing.

But what exactly is Davos for? Who is going and what will they talk about?

What is Davos?

For a village with only 11,000 permanent residents, Davos has a big reputation. Since 1971 it has played host to annual gatherings of powerful people invited by the World Economic Forum (WEF). More than 5,000ft up in the Swiss Alps, Davos offers attendees the opportunity for play as well as work. This year's gathering opens on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

What is the World Economic Forum?

It's a non-profit foundation dedicated to encouraging international economic co-operation founded in Geneva in 1971 by academic Klaus Schwab, who also hoped to expose European businessmen to the latest management ideas from the US. Now 76, Schwab said last week he hoped this year's gathering would help create economic "confidence" and warned that "pessimism has become too much the zeitgeist of our time", the Daily Telegraph reports.

What actually happens there?

Schwab says Davos is "a platform for collaborative thinking and searching for solutions, not for making decisions". Essentially, says the Telegraph, it's a networking event for "an unlikely mix of business bosses, bankers, senior politicians, heads of state, tech billionaires, pop stars, Nobel Prize-winning economists, media moguls and journalists". There are also panel discussions and talks.

Is it all work and no play?

No - some traditionalists fear there is rather too much play these days, with glitzy parties overshadowing the serious work and giving the event a bad public image. In 2013, Napster founder and Facebook shareholder Sean Parker - the famously high-living 30-something played by Justin Timberlake in Facebook movie The Social Network - held a shindig with DJs, cocktails and stuffed animals with lasers for eyes.

Who's coming this year?

Prince Andrew, for one, says The Guardian. The Prince's decision to attend is controversial as it will be his first public appearance since denying a US woman's claim that she was forced by his financier friend to have sex with the Prince when she was underage. 'Happy' singer Pharrell Williams is another unlikely attendee - he will be sharing a stage with Al Gore, the former US vice-president, to discuss climate change, says The Guardian. Also there will be Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, Angela Merkel, George Osborne and many, many more - 2,500 guests in total.

What will they talk about?

The list of topics lined up for discussion includes political instability, pandemics, cyber-security, technological change, quantitative easing, global financial inequality and the tumbling price of oil - according to the Guardian.

Are there any nay-sayers?

Davos is seen by some on the left as the very heart of darkness, a Bilderberg-style festival of corruption and greed. It's particularly despised by anti-capitalist groups such as Occupy. Stories of partying and business leaders holding private meetings with presidents only add to the suspicion. But dissent has come even from establishment figures. The Telegraph remembers conservative US political scientist Samuel Huntington warning in 2004 of the rise of "Davos Man" a species of power-broker seeing governments as relics of the past "whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite's global operations". Yet after the global financial crisis, it was government who bailed out creaking financial institutions, says the paper.

But Davos must at least be popular with lovers of the free market?

Not necessarily, says the Telegraph. "Crony capitalism can develop when government, regulators and big business get too close," says the paper, naming three groups often represented at Davos. "Genuine capitalism depends on open competition and can be undermined by the creation of cartels, no matter how well-intentioned," the paper explains. So the event can't take right-wing support for granted.