World leaders at Davos: Demand for equity in governance

Given the skewed imbalance of a world where the rich become richer and the poor are made poorer by the day, there is an inescapable perception that decisions made at the elite Davos club in Switzerland stand little chance of becoming reality. So, it is valid to pose the question: what is the point of 40 heads of state and government, Taoiseach Enda Kenny among them, gathering for the 45th World Economic Forum?

This year’s meeting is set against a depressing backdrop of global conflict, terrorism, disease, climate change and rapidly escalating poverty on a scale never before witnessed.

The yawning gulf between rich and poor was graphically illustrated this week by an Oxfam report showing that the wealthiest 1% will own more than 50% of the world’s wealth by 2016.