What Now? Reflections from Davos & Outlook for 2026
Message from our Chair Dennis West
Left: a gambling and entertainment capital in the Mojave Desert. Right: a Swiss mountain village for sports and regeneration. Generated with Gemini.
They say that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas. If one were to choose a new slogan for the World Economic Forum, it would be quite different: What matters in Davos is what happens after Davos. The WEF primes the minds of media and markets, but nothing matters unless action follows the agenda. So, as the snow settles, we ask: What now?
Lessons from the Magic Mountain
The 2026 Annual Meeting—the first in 55 years without founder Klaus Schwab—marked a historic shift. Now a CHF 468 million revenue organisation, the WEF must ensure it remains a platform for genuine, spirited dialogue, not simply a venue for paid parking of ideas.
That spirit was evident on the “Magic Mountain.” AI nearly caused altitude sickness for everyone, consuming the limited oxygen in the room. Yet there were marked moments of clarity and connection, from Mark Carney’s energetic intervention to the informal acts of leadership shaping the tone of these gatherings—enter Emmanuel Macron’s now-viral eyewear.
This is also why the US and Europe must stop washing their dirty laundry in public. Fixating on the US, NATO and Greenland's internal issues within a military defence pact, while global leaders are in the room, risks narrowing the space for collaboration. We cannot let "West vs. Rest" showdowns or “Board of Peace” parades overshadow the dialogue in this global moment. It’s just three days, really. But those used to sea level may not adjust quickly enough to the nearly 1,560 metres.
The Road Ahead
The meetings I attended made one thing clear: the next phase of global cooperation will be shaped less by rhetoric and more by the systems we choose to build. The Transition Valuation Project (TVP) operates in an emerging ecosystem that extends investment and business decision-making beyond financial capital to human, social, and natural capital—integrating planetary boundaries at every level.
From our Boardroom Discussion at WEF, we identified key priorities and collaboration opportunities with extraordinary guests, alongside our Steering Committee members and supporters: Teresa Nielsen, Pavan Sukhdev, Dr Céline Bilolo, and our new Co-Chair of the Expert Group, Sakis Kotsantonis. Kristin Kostka, our Director of Fundraising and Dimitrij Euler, Director of Partnerships, guided us through our discussion topics expertly.
From the TÜV SÜD Carbon Removal Roundtable to other private sessions, one thing became certain: the current state of geopolitics is not distracting the architects of the new international standards landscape from their vital work:
Sergio Mujica and Noelia Garcia Nebra (ISO): On advancing global, technical standards via consensus-driven, high-integrity processes.
Robin Hodess (GRI) & Emmanuel Faber (ISSB): On driving the interoperability of rigorous disclosure standards.
Peter Bakker (WBCSD) & Christian Heller (VBA): On enhancing the connectivity between sustainability strategy and value creation.
My view is that we need to align on two things: first, ensuring that, in the current geopolitical conflicts, net-zero and sustainable development goals are front and centre of this new standards landscape. Second, a relentless focus on usability - meaning: focus on those who use standards and methods for their decision-making at every level of the system and in whatever people do to support net-zero and sustainable development goals.
Research & Education Partnerships
If these systems are to endure, they must be grounded in rigorous research and translated through education. The TVP continues at Oxford University, where I am looking forward to working alongside Prof. Alex Nicholls and the authors of the Outcomes-based Net Present Value working paper.
Following a Distinguished Speaker Series event with Sir Ronald Cohen on 3rd February, we are also deepening our impact through a new collaboration with RG Sciences to bring impact data into an experiential learning environment for executive education. We are currently finalising similar partnerships with other leading players within our growing network.
Join us on our journey in 2026
We have launched Greenings Champions to transform global risks into shared opportunities. We are thrilled that early donations are already fueling our spring research, and momentum is building:
Support us at: greenings.org/champions
None of this is possible without our Director of Operations, Kathrin Wartmann, our core team, our board and members. Please reach out to them if you would like to get involved in fundraising, partnerships, any part of our work, and our broader community. We remain inspired by the legacy of the Velvet Revolution and Václav Havel: "Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."
That brings me back to the words Vegas and Davos. They may look similar, but they are neither the same nor are pronounced the same (it’s “Dafohss”). One is a US gambling and entertainment capital in the desert, while the other is a Swiss mountain village for sports and regeneration. Time will tell where we’re heading in one year.
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Overiew of Events in 2026
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February | Monthly Community Calls (Expert Group) |
| 20 February | Greenings Drinks (Basel) |
| 1 March | Charity 10k Run |
| March–May | Knowledge Exchange Series (Virtual) |
| 12 April | Charity 10k Run |
| 21 April | Skoll World Forum Side Event |
| 10 May | Charity 10k Run |
| May | AGM & TVP Showcase |
| June | London Climate Action Week |