Davos Notebook

From barely getting a mention last year, water scarcity and conservation has become a big issue at Davos in 2008, with a plenary and five other sessions.

The most interesting idea to emerge from a session this morning was the suggestion that market forces – specifically a market price for water – should be used to help prioritise use and drive conservation.

Nestle Chief Executive Peter Brabeck said such a move would cause a major rethink of production processes. In particular, production of biofuels — turning crops into energy — would not be viable if producers had to pay the true price of the water they use.      

 ”There is a need for there to be a price associated with water, ” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum annual meeting.     

 ”It takes 9,000 litres of water to produce one litre of biodiesel. This strategy, which is not the right one, is backed by all major governments.”      

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Tramping through the Davos snow for a 7:45 am breakfast meeting may be cold – but it it definitely ain’t cool. Irish rock star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono explained his dilemma to the assembled suits at the World Economic forum on Thursday: “If anyone sees my band, please don’t tell them I was up this early. It’s not very Rock ‘n Roll.”

The World Economic Forum has a record number of sessions and workshops about global warming this year – but you wouldn’t guess it from the the buzz in the corridors, where the economy and roiling markets dominate conversations. That’s a worry, according to climate experts.

Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), fears the issue may be pushed to the sidelines, with potentially disastrous long-term results. If business and political leaders don’t take it seriously now, they won’t make the necessary investments in green technology or tackle CO2 emissions, he argues.

“A lot has been achieved so far, not only in terms of the public becoming aware of the reality of climate change but also leaders round the world taking fairly forward-looking positions,” Pachauri said. “If we get distracted by the aberrations that you see in the financial market right now it would clearly be very unfortunate.”

Emma Thompson discusses her reasons for attending the World Economic Forum -- filed by Adam Pasick

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The former Goldman Sachs CEO talks about the coming recession and what states and the federal government can do about it .

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Dow Chemical is seeing continued growth in demand for its products and does not expect the United States to tip into recession, Chief Executive Andrew Liveris tells Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. Get Video here

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria speaks to Reuters in Davos at the World Economic Forum meeting
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Tony Williams, spokesman for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, tells Reuters’ David Schlesinger that despite market turmoil, people should pay attention to the group’s forecast for robust growth in the region.

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Not all innovation is in technology. Kigge Hvid, CEO of INDEX, demostrates life-saving equipment in the form of a tongue sucker. ‘Innovation’ is one of the theme’s at the annual WEF gathering in the Swiss ski resort. This footage was captured by journalism professor and blogger Jeff Jarvis, who is contributing to the Reuters/Nokia mobile journalism project in Davos.

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