Blair at Davos calls for peace, climate pact

ByABC News
January 27, 2008, 7:04 PM

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Leading figures in business, politics and the humanities closed this year's World Economic Forum Sunday with high expectations for the year ahead, chief among them an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and a pact on climate change.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday he wants agreement on both issues by the end of 2008. Sharing the same level of ambition, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel called for China to open its doors to the Dalai Lama and for an end to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. PepsiCo Inc. chief Indra Nooyi urged lower food prices so the poor don't go hungry in 2008.

The final session of this year's gathering of the world's rich and powerful seemed to shrug off any pessimism about what can be achieved in the coming months despite fears that the U.S. economic downturn could lead to a global recession.

"The mood was moderately optimistic because we have many, many opportunities," the forum's founder, Klaus Schwab, said. "But if we do not address the challenges, one day even the greatest opportunities will not be enough to guarantee our continuation as humankind if you look at climate change, terrorism, poverty."

The five-day political and economic brainstorming session that brought nearly 2,500 of the world's movers and shakers to this Swiss ski resort was short on "glitz" this year with the exception of rock star Bono and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, who are both anti-poverty campaigners as well.

The real stars of Davos remain the young entrepreneurs like YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, and perennial favorite Bill Gates who got a standing ovation in his last appearance as Microsoft chairman. He is stepping down later this year to focus more on philanthropy.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended President George W. Bush's push for democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere, and tried to calm economic fears, stressing that the U.S. economy is resilient and would remain an "engine of growth."

Whether the U.S. economy is heading toward recession or just slowing down and the likely impact on the rest of the world was the subject of intense discussion, with much speculation on whether Asia's two giants, China and India, would be able to absorb some of the shock.