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November 4-7, 2025
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Top Sustainability Conversations at Davos 2023

By Nick Vener

World Economic Forum 2023

This month, the World Economic Forum held its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where delegates from various sectors converged to discuss urgent global issues.

In the discussion of urgent matters, climate change is at the top of the list.

We rounded up a few of the top sustainability conversations at Davos 2023.

  1. Greater focus on building climate resilience – the World Economic Forum (WEF) deemed extreme weather risks the top global threat in its 2022 edition of the global risks report. According to the World Economic Forum's global risks report, frequent and severe natural disasters worldwide are the most urgent global risks for the next two years.
  2. Shifting to clean energy – Many countries passed incentives for renewable energy in 2022. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore took the stage to discuss decarbonization, efforts to build clean energy infrastructure, and ensure an equitable transition. Other topics around energy discussed include evolving and harnessing nuclear fusion as a source of sustainable energy, which offers potential in the coming years.
  3. Accelerating decarbonization – a new initiative was announced at Davos 2023 to help industries reduce emissions. The initiative, joined by nine leading industrial manufacturers including China, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, and the United States, aims to connect 100 industrial clusters globally to reduce 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions, retain and create 18 million jobs and contribute $2.5 trillion to global GDP.
  4. Water in the spotlight – the WEF announced a new deal with the Government of Indonesia to help scale conservation projects to preserve the “blue economy” protecting the work’s oceans.

The World Economic Forum in Davos is a historic landmark event to identify priorities for the year ahead, debate outcomes, and come up with solutions at a global scale. As we continue approaching grim milestones due to climate change, it has never been more critical for world leaders to be on the same page.

Interested to see how many of these topics will affect the building sector? Join us at Greenbuild 2023 in Washington DC, September 26-29 | Expo 27-28 to be a part of the movement to make our buildings and communities healthier, more resilient, and prone to longevity.

Registration opens soon! In the meantime, sign up for updates to be the first notified when registration for Greenbuild 2023 opens.