what is the world economic forum wef 
the world economic forum wef is an international organization headquartered in geneva switzerland that brings together individuals and political and business leaders each year to discuss significant issues that impact the global economy these include but are not limited to political economic social and environmental concerns the wef is best known for its annual world economic forum meeting at davos the swiss ski resort the event regularly draws business and political leaders from around the world for a series of discussions about global issues the covid 19 pandemic disrupted a half century routine for this event which was restored in 2022 understanding the world economic forum wef the world economic forum s wef membership is a cross section of the global elite from the private and public sectors and includes some of the most prominent ceos diplomats celebrities media personalities government officials religious leaders and union representatives from around the world founded in 1971 in geneva the wef has a mission based on what is known as stakeholder theory stakeholder theory proposes that while a private sector entity s aim is to increase profits for its shareholders it is incumbent upon the organization to view the rest of society as having a stake in the company s actions stakeholders such as employees customers the company serves and the local and global community must be considered when making critical decisions headquartered in switzerland the wef has offices in new york beijing tokyo san francisco and mumbai the wef is funded by its own membership which includes industry leaders and individuals from all walks of life in addition many celebrities journalists and interested individuals are willing to pay steep annual dues and meeting fees to attend regional meetings are held in developing nations in africa east asia and latin america but the annual meeting in davos switzerland is the central meeting event for all members wef meetings introduce new issues trends and organizations to members and the public for discussion and are commonly believed to influence corporate and public sector decision making the wef organization has several ongoing projects aimed at addressing specific global concerns including climate change the fourth industrial revolution and global security it works with its international partners to bring about positive change in these areas the wef also produces research into its members areas of interest and helps guide public private sector collaboration and communication among its members the world economic forum has no power to make decisions but it may have considerable ability to influence political and business policy decisions the purpose of its annual meeting is to bring the world s decision makers together regularly to discuss the pressing problems of the day and consider how best to address them world economic forum wef annual meetingthe wef annual meeting in davos switzerland usually attracts about 2 500 people from more than 100 nations the davos meeting is covered by media outlets globally past davos meetings have allowed government leaders to address issues of political conflict with one another raising the stature of the yearly meeting to that of a political and economic forum the 2019 world economic forum annual meeting featured teenage environmental activist greta thunberg who declared i don t want your hope i want you to panic and act the idea that the forum could assist with global conflict resolution in addition to promoting its own best practices in business management was an early vision of wef founder klaus schwab schwab a german engineer and economist now serves as the executive chair of the wef a january 2021 meeting occurred virtually not surprisingly much of the year s discussion centered on the pandemic focusing on the fragility of the global supply chain that the pandemic revealed the annual in person meeting planned for august 2021 in singapore under the theme of the great reset was canceled in may 2022 the conference once again was held in person in davos topics discussed by leaders at the 2022 forum were the war in ukraine impacts on the global economy from the war and the covid 19 pandemic and the future of globalization also in the discussions were climate change health technology entreprenuer and business roles and what work will look like in the future 