Climate activist Greta Thunberg said that the global energy industry would go as far as it could without public pressure, adding that the sector would continue to invest in fossil fuels and “throw people under the bus for their gain”.

Trade blocs seeking to skirt geopolitical risk by “friend-shoring” activities to like-minded countries should be careful which commerce partners they favor, World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others have used the term to encourage countries to diversify supply chains away from China to market-oriented democracies such as India.

China could see a sharp recovery in economic growth from the second quarter onwards based on current infection trends after the dismantling of most COVID restrictions, IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said.

Empty offices globally should be converted to apartments to address a growing housing crisis in many countries, property executives said. Commercial real estate values are sliding as an economic downturn reduces demand for space among cost-conscious companies, whose employees have been spending fewer days in the office since the pandemic.

In other Davos news – global bank chiefs get an FBI cybersecurity update, the cowed crypto crowd are feeling the winter freeze, and the author who first envisioned the metaverse 30 years ago discusses his vision with Meta.