India at Davos 2022: Highlights of the World Economic Forum annual meeting

India sent a record delegation to the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting this year and presented its position on critical global issues such as the energy crisis, food security, and health equity in Davos.

The WEF annual meeting took place physically in the Swiss town of Davos from May 22 to May 26 after two years, under the theme 'History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Business Strategies'.

India was at the centre of many dialogues on emerging issues ranging from crypto technologies to climate change. More than one hundred Indian delegates, including CEOs, unicorn founders and political leaders, were at Davos.

The five days saw leaders placing a renewed focus on India's rising economic opportunity while disclosing its plans to ramp up green energy capacity and technological innovation.

"In terms of numbers and specifically when it comes to government, we have record numbers from India," said Sriram Gutta, head of India agenda at the Forum.

"We currently work with many states on diverse initiatives, including food innovation and agri tech, advanced manufacturing and production, drones, and electric vehicles, among others," he said.

Here are five highlights from the week:

1. Indian CEO Alliance

The World Economic Forum on May 23 announced a new “Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India” that will work towards fast-tracking decarbonisation pathways during India’s net-zero journey.

The Alliance brings together chief executives from India’s leading businesses. It is part of the Forum’s Climate Action Platform and will build upon learnings from global projects such as the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and the First Movers Coalition.

The Alliance will continue efforts to achieve the vision outlined in the white paper released last year, Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net Zero India, on India’s low-carbon transition by 2070, the WEF said.

The programme will bring together the government, businesses and other key stakeholders to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, which includes the country’s net-zero by 2070 target.

Modi in November 2021 pledged that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and asserted that it is the only country that is delivering in "letter and spirit" the commitments on tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement.

2. Transition to Green Energy

Russia's invasion of Ukraine exacerbated supply concerns and international oil prices spiked this year, hitting a near 14-year high of $140 a barrel in March. They have retreated but continue to be above $110 -- a rate that is fueling inflation and impacting economic recovery in many parts of the world.

Speaking during the 'Energy Outlook: Overcoming the Crisis' session on May 24, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the crude oil price of $110 a barrel was not sustainable, even as he courted the world's oil leaders to discuss global energy markets.

"Do not believe that the world today is facing an energy shortage. We are facing a situation where the amounts of energy released in the global market are short of the demand. That's what causes the inflationary problem," Puri said, hinting at output curbs by the oil producers' cartel OPEC+.

The aim of a 20 per cent ethanol blend has been pushed ahead from 2030 to 2025, he said, as green hydrogen, biofuel discovery, and production from alternate sources is being prioritised.

"But 20% blended fuel will become available in our petrol bunks by 1 April 2023, so we're going to start on that," Puri added.

3. Tackling freshwater crisis

In a partnership with WEF platform UpLink, global conglomerate HCL announced an investment $15 million over five years to accelerate the innovation agenda for water and create a first-of-its-kind innovation ecosystem for the global freshwater sector.

"Today, freshwater resources globally are extremely burdened, and every fifth child on this planet faces water scarcity," said Roshni Nadar Malhotra, CEO of HCL Group and Chairperson of HCL Technologies.

4. Fight against plastic pollution

India's largest state in terms of GDP, Maharashtra joined the WEF's Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) to advance regional efforts to fight plastic pollution.

With the new partnership, the state has joined a growing list of global economies that will leverage the GPAP platform to drive localised solutions for the circular economy.

The partnership will bring together Maharashtra's leading policy-makers, business leaders, civil society organizations and experts to formulate a state-level plan to eradicate plastic pollution.

5. Defining the metaverse

The WEF is building a "Global Collaboration Village" as the virtual future of public-private cooperation, in collaboration with Accenture and Microsoft.

The concept of the metaverse is new, but it is not stopping industry leaders in India.

"Today, for Tech Mahindra, I have a rural education programme being run in the metaverse, and remember, I'm talking of a country where the smartphone penetration is only 26 per cent," said CP Gurnani, the MD and CEO at Tech Mahindra. 

"I have sports training being conducted in the metaverse; I have retail commerce happening in the metaverse. So, this evolution of web 3.0, blockchain, and metaverse is here to stay (and) the applications are endless," he added.