OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield joins a large group of business and political leaders from around the world gathering in Davos, Switzerland this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). For more than 40 years, the event has focused high-level discussions around some of the biggest challenges facing the planet, and sought to identify solutions that will serve the entire global community for current and future generations.
Last year’s Davos talks were held at a time of significant tension over the euro debt crisis. Now, with the financial markets in a period of greater stability, the event is expected to cover a wider range of topics from the ways to fund the response to climate change to the economic risks caused by corruption and cyber-crime.
Littlefield will participate in multiple events at WEF that will explore some of the ways businesses might better address future challenges, including a looming global resource crunch, by incorporating sustainability into their practices and by working with the nonprofit sector to achieve greater social benefit. In the Scaling Social Innovation panel, Littlefield will discuss why businesses need to advance beyond the concepts of corporate social responsibility and “do no harm” to embrace sustainable, market-based approaches to achieving transformative social and environmental change. In the Catalyzing Markets through Philanthropy panel, Littlefield will discuss how capital flows are often needed to advance development challenges in the health care, renewable energy and other sectors, and how the public, private and nonprofit sectors might better align their goals.
