The dust has now settled on what was, undoubtedly, a unique Davos – especially given the overall backdrop of the geo-political tensions around Greenland. It felt surreal to be in a normally unprepossessing skiing village, with world leaders, global corporations and the worlds’ wealthiest people, all dominating the global news cycle. Jamie Dimon is quoted as once saying Davos is “a place where billionaires come to tell millionaires how the middle class feel.”
For all that is said about Davos, it is an event where you can get certain things done because you have “right” people all assembled together in one place. Most people I met approach it with that pragmatic approach. There is also a very curious fringe ecosystem that surrounds it, including memorably, an Elon Musk doppelganger.
The highlight for me this year was the launch of Get Blue. Modelled on the highly successful RED Campaign, spearheaded by Bono, this initiative sees brands align to help support global access to water and sanitation. You can buy a Get Blue GAP hoodie, or a Get Blue Starbucks mug and some of the proceeds under this unified collective effort all help accelerate the rate at which we can achieve SDG6. Like many great ideas, it is elegant in its simplicity, but that belies the efforts required to execute well. Innovation is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration as Edison once said.
When we first met with Water.org in January 2019, they had helped 17 million people access safe water or sanitation by the end of 2018. A huge leap up from 6m in 2016. Now, that number has exceeded 85m, with a goal to reach 300m people by 2030.
Does this arithmetic pattern sound familiar? Yes, you guessed it – it’s following an S-curve pattern and looks like it is reaching a tipping point. If water.org reaches 300m people, by 2030, that’s 15% of the 2.1 billion that lack access to safe water. And they won’t be acting alone here. Gary White and Water.org have launched GET Blue with Gap, Starbucks, Amazon and Ecolab, with others including TikTok keen to join.
This is why we are excited to have Gary White speaking at BlueTech Forum Ignite: From Lighthouses to Tipping Points, June 1-2 this year at the Nike, Headquarters.
It felt full-circle for Aoife Kelleher and I to be back in Davos again this year; I first attended in 2019 when we were filming with Water.org for Brave Blue World Foundation. Back then, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency were everywhere, leaping out from many of the pop-up store-fronts. This year, as you will see from some of the photos, Bitcoin buzz was replaced by – surprise! – AI. Davos follows the hype cycle and is nothing if not dynamic. Who knows what those store fronts will say in five years time? But I am increasingly optimistic that that the winds are now behind increasing global access to water and sanitation. With innovations in finance, business models and technology, and we stand a very good chance of hitting that 300m number 2030.
