World Economic Forum Thinks It Can Tell Companies How to Invest, Us What to Buy, Governments How to Govern

“As of now, the willingness and ability of consumers to pay premiums have not been demonstrated. It is critical for industry stakeholders to strengthen and scale-up demand signals for low-emission products,” says the WEF.

QUICK FACTS:
  • The World Economic Forum (WEF) published an article Friday demonstrating how the organization assumes it can dictate how international companies should invest, where the public spends its money, and which policies legislators should implement in order to bring about “radical change” to the global economy and “accelerate industrial transformation.”
  • The article, titled “Five steps to get industries on track for net zero,” gives five directives for achieving “[n]et zero emissions by 2050,” a feat the WEF says “cannot be achieved without radically accelerating the decarbonization of heavy industries.”
  • One of the directives, called “Set a public-private investment agenda to decrease the cost of clean technology,” calls for private sector businesses to devote “more full-scale projects” to low-emission production technologies, instead of allowing companies to invest in technologies they feel best represent what consumers want: “Moving forward, economies of scale, efficiency gains and further innovations are likely to drive costs down,” the WEF piece reads. “But this can only happen if more full-scale projects are developed. Public and private sectors should come together to rapidly multiply such projects around the globe.”
  • Another directive, titled “Promote low-carbon demand and establish transparency and visibility among producers,” admits that private citizens are not interested in buying “low-carbon” goods and services: “As of now, the willingness and ability of consumers to pay premiums have not been demonstrated,” the WEF acknowledges. The solution? Instead of allowing the free market and consumer choice to set demand, the WEF wants to manufacture demand among the public for WEF-partnered corporations’ goods and services out of thin air: “It is critical for industry stakeholders to strengthen and scale-up demand signals for low-emission products,” the WEF article declares.
  • A further directive, “Strengthen net zero policies and regulations to level the playing field for low-carbon producers,” instructs sovereign governments to legislate “ambitious policy frameworks” that are in line with the WEF’s agenda: “[G]overnments need to facilitate the emergence of economically viable” net zero policies, the WEF urges.
BACKGROUND:
  • The WEF says it wants China to take “an increasingly active role in reshaping the international system of climate change.”
  • The Forum also wants to “explore emerging models of Chinese leadership adapted to a new norm of globalization. It will make recommendations for building trust between China and the rest of the world – based on mutual respect and shared interest – in pursuing strategic cooperation in areas such as climate change, health research and sustainable technologies.”
  • The WEF also promises how it “will illustrate how business leaders both inside and outside China can navigate this changing landscape to bring an entrepreneurial approach to solving global challenges.”
  • China’s share in all the world’s manufacturing stages of solar panels currently exceeds 80%, and for key elements including polysilicon and wafers, it is set to increase to more than 95%, according to the Institute for Energy Research (IER).
  • Joe Biden is currently removing tariffs on China’s solar panels so that China is poised “to be the manufacturing superpower of the solar industry,” the IER notes, adding that Biden sees China’s dominance of the solar sector “as key to reaching his dream of net zero emissions by 2050.”
  • Read the IER’s report below.
  • Biden family businesses are tied to trillions in lithium—a key element used to make batteries—acquired by China through the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal.

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