Tue. Mar 19th, 2024
Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), speaks during a plenary session on day two of the 28th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. The World Economic Forum on Africa meeting runs from 4-6 September. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images picture credits-CGTN

The great reset is an initiative taken by the World Economic Forum to reset the world economy for a sustainable and climate conscious growth. The Great Reset was the name of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that was held in June 2020.

It had brought together high-profile business personalities and political leaders from all areas of expertise and nations, convened by the prince of wales and the WEF, with the theme of rebuilding society and the economy in a more sustainable way following the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Klaus Schwab, laid the foundation of WEF in 1971 and is currently serving as its CEO. He described three core components of the Great Reset. The first involves creating conditions for a “stakeholder economy”, An economic model where corporates move towards social welfare model rather than profit maximizing model, that they already religiously follow.

The second component includes building in a more “resilient, equitable, and sustainable” way of growth. The suggested way is based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics which would incorporate more green public infrastructure projects for a cleaner approach for a greener and sustainable future.

The third component of a Great Reset agenda includes the initiative to “harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” for public good.

A speech presented by Prince Charles at the launch event for The Great Reset, listed similar areas for action listed in his Sustainable Markets Initiative, which was introduced in January 2020. These included the reinvigoration of technology, science, and innovation. The initiative also suggested a move towards net zero transitions globally, to include more green investments, and to encourage green public infrastructure projects.

In June 2020, the theme for 51st World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to be held in 2021 was announced again as “The Great Reset”. It is all set to connect global leaders in Davos with a multi-stakeholder network in 400 cities around the world. The Great Reset is again set to be the main theme of the WEF’s 2021 summit in Lucerne.

But this noble initiative isn’t without its share of controversies. It has been criticized by the capitalists as an initiative to bring back socialism and an excuse to spend the wealth of the public on climate change.

With Trump out of the office and Joe Biden rejoining the Paris Peace conference capitalist agendas have been aggravated, who now in search of conspiracy theories try to oust Biden’s efforts for an environmental friendly future. Whereas the left scoffs off ‘the great reset’ idea as a ‘big sounding initiative for nothing’. It has been retreated that the great reset is a mere diplomatic rhetoric of major leaders, with no actual inclination to initiate efforts to reset the world economy.

To add further to the claims, conspiracy theories of world leaders initiating the pandemic to reset the world have been encountered. This comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s speech given in august went viral. In the video, Justin Trudeau states that the pandemic has provided an opportunity for a ‘reset’.

A video in august, which now has close to 3 million views on YouTube, believes that only Donald Trump can thawt such secret plot of socialism, which uses COVID-19 to bring US economy on its “knees” so that the “reset’ can begin and that people are left to beg for vaccine.

But the suggestion that politicians initiated the pandemic to reset the world economy, is without evidence and credibility and quite rightly be claimed as ridiculous.

Justin Trudeau rightly adds that “I think we are in a time of anxiety, where people are looking for reasons for things that are happening to them… we are seeing a lot of people fall prey to disinformation”.

By Shivani Khanna

A woman who believes in equal rights and aspires to inspire people through her writings. I aspire to contribute to the economic world and society with diligence and thus being an economic advisor tops my career ambitions . I currently am pursuing Economic honours ( at undergrad level) from delhi university.