DAVOS, Switzerland -- As the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) came to a close on Friday, the differences in the positions of U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders as well as environmental activists have become clear on climate change, a key agenda item of the four-day gathering that closed Friday.
Regarding taxation targeting information technology giants, a cause for conflict kept smoldering among the United States and European nations.
"This is not a time for pessimism ... we must reject the perennial prophets of doom," Trump said Jan. 21 in his speech on the first day of the gathering in which he participated for the first time in two years.
Waving touted his nation's strong economy and with environmental activists in mind, the president stressed, "We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy."
Environmentalactivist GretaThunberg clashed with Trump over climate issues. In a debate session on environmental issues, the 17-year-old stressed that efforts to address climate change are totally insufficient and failing.
In response, U.S.TreasurySecretary Steven Mnuchinsaid at a press conference that he wants the young activist to come back to the annual forum after studying economics at university. Thunberg replied in a tweet, "It doesn't take a college degree in economics to realize" there are climate issues.
At this year's WEF, however, as participants said, it is true that environmental issues dominated the conversation.
The Global Risks Report 2020 released by the WEF ahead of the gathering projects that the top five global risks which are likely to come to the fore over the next 10 years are all related to the environment.
There were also moves to jointly take action against the United States at the meeting. Regarding the introduction of digital taxation, which the United States opposes, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at a press conference on Jan. 22 that European nations will unite to deal with it.
During the four-day meeting, the United States agreed not to impose punitive tariffs on French wine and other products in exchange for suspending the collection of digital taxes until the end of 2020.
Le Maire said that in negotiations with the United States, it was important for France to have shared a common understanding with other nations, including Britain and Italy.
In a debate with Mnuchin, British finance chief Sajid Javid also announced the introduction of digital taxation, keeping pace with European nations despite the country's divorce from the European Union at the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Japanese participants faced challenges of demonstrating their presence at the forum. Although many business leaders, including those from major banks and trading companies, participated in the meeting, their remarks were rarely taken up by foreign media.
"It's a challenge for Japan to make a presence on climate change," said Suntory Holdings President Takeshi Niinami, who participated in a debate session held at the meeting.
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