Davos aka the World Economic Forum is underway. This annual get together of the great, the good and not so great or good is being fanfared with the strapline: The Power of Global Collaboration. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it until you realise what is not on the agenda. This from Bob Jacobson at Corante who is not attending:

So how real is the Davos commitment to innovation?

First, what options and alternative are permitted to be discussed at Davos? Is creating and funding a global economic safety net, as the UN has proposed, on the table? What about a more equitable distribution of global wealth? How about rich nations taxing themselves for their disproportionately enormous economic and environmental demands on already terrifically strained physical and social environments, then putting the revenues in a global fund to deal with real global problem-solving? Is unbridled immigration from poor nations to rich an open option? A world government? A universal social democracy? Corporations devoting 25% of their income (not just five percent of their profits) to fighting climate change? Not surprisingly, these options are non-starters at Davos.

Pretty damning stuff but Rob makes good points. From the relative comfort of our homes global problems often seem far away and irrelevant. It is all too easy to turn a blind eye yet I am starting to come across companies that take this stuff seriously. Later this week for instance, I plan to publish a story about how compliance around worker rights matters in a global economy and how some well known brands are taking this seriously. Similarly, I’m seeing more companies asking important questions about sustainability. It is happening in the most unlikely of places.

Read what James Farrar has to say about a recent trip to Nigeria. He paints a rosy picture but one tinged with a healthy dose of reality. As he says:

I think the changes we are seeing with the rapid development in BRIC and N11 countries is more fundamental and we have to look beyond on our own western bias to understand them.

We do well to listen to people like James.