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James Simpson | Capital Research Center
The World Economic Forum (WEF) held its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 16–20 of this year. It is difficult to overestimate the WEF’s influence on the Western world. Attendees included political leaders such as Justin Trudeau, Emanuel Macron, Biden Administration “Climate Czar” John Kerry, Current U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska and many others. Corporate leaders included BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and some 1,400 more.
A WEF poll of 1,200 world business and political leaders conducted by Bloomberg prior to the event found that among their top concerns were “energy inflation, food and security crises,” with cost-of-living increases the top immediate concern. Over the next 10 years “climate change” will take precedence.[1]
Despite all this hand-wringing, WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab announced last summer that fuel prices—a major driver of inflation—aren’t anywhere near high enough. He wants to see gasoline prices higher by multiples in order to “safeguard democracy.”[2] Schwab claims the answer will require an unprecedented level of “public-private cooperation.”
We had our first big taste of that with President Barack Obama’s “green energy” program, where the only “green” from that list of multi-billion-dollar failures went to Obama’s political allies and supporters.[3] Ironically, given the past two years of endless left-wing name-calling against “fascist” America, public-private “partnerships,” in which private companies are recruited to serve government interests, are the essence of Fascism.[4] And seeded everywhere within the WEF agenda and statements by political and corporate leaders is the term “sustainability.”
Sustainability
Sustainability has become a household word. We see it on product labels and hear it discussed in relation to everything from electrical generation to financial investments. Most people remain unaware, however, of its origin, true nature, or the goals pursued under this seemingly innocuous word.
“Sustainable development” was first articulated in 1987 in Our Common Future a paper produced by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development.[5] What came to be called the Brundtland Commission was led by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Socialist International leader and former prime minister of Norway.[6] As derived from the commission report, the UN defines “sustainable development” as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet its own needs.”[7] To accomplish this, Brundtland stated that it constituted, “A global agenda for change.”[8]
Other luminaries on the Brundtland Commission included UN heavyweight Maurice Strong (more about him later); William Ruckelshaus, first head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the only American), and luminaries from such enlightened states as Zimbabwe, Communist China, Russia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Cote D’Ivoire.
Sustainable development is found at the intersection of the three “Es” of economy, environment and (social) equity. It implies government restraint of economic growth to limit the depletion of natural resources over time and prevent anthropogenic climate change, while redistributing resources to achieve “equity”—i.e., socialism.
This socialist aspect of “sustainability” was emphasized throughout the Brundtland Report. For example, on page 22, point 70, it states, “Many essential human needs can be net only through goods and services provided by industry, and the shift to sustainable development must be powered by a continuing flow of wealth from industry.”[9]
In the next installment, the concept of sustainable development developed slowly and stealthily, and thus it went largely unnoticed.
[1] Philip Aldrick, “Cost-of-Living Crisis Is Top Immediate Risk for Davos Elite,” Bloomberg, January 11, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-11/cost-of-living-crisis-is-top-immediate-risk-for-davos-elite.
[2] Baxter Dmitry, “Klaus Schwab’s WEF Issues Edict to Global Leaders: ‘Gas Prices Aren’t High Enough,’” News Punch, July 14, 2022, https://newspunch.com/klaus-schwabs-wef-issues-edict-to-global-leaders-gas-prices-arent-high-enough/.
[3] Roy Cordato, “Obama’s Green Energy Failure List,” Locke, October 30, 2012, https://www.johnlocke.org/obamas-green-energy-failure-list/; and Robert L. Bradley Jr., “Political Energy: We All Lose,” HuffPost, October 22, 2012, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/political-energy-we-all-l_b_2001886/.
[4] Free Library, “Public-Private Partnerships Based on Fascist Economic Model,” accessed January 16, 2023, https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Public-private+partnerships+based+on+fascist+economic+model.-a0198169101.
[5] Gro Harlan Brundtland, Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), 5, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf.
[6] Socialist International, “The World Economy: A Common Responsibility,” XX Congress of the Socialist International, New York, September 9–11, 1996, accessed November 23, 2022, https://www.socialistinternational.org/congresses/xx-congress-of-the-socialist-international-new-york/.
[7] UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, “Education for Sustainable Development,” accessed November 23, 2022, https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development/what-is-esd/sd.
[8] Brundtland, Our Common Future, 5.
[9] Brundtland, Our Common Future, 22.
