BBC World to cover specials on World Economic Forum

BBC World to cover specials on World Economic Forum

BBC World

MUMBAI: News channel BBC World has announced its programming schedule for the World Economic Forum in Davos. A team of BBC reporters and presenters will be providing live news updates, in depth interviews and a special debate from the high level meetings in Switzerland from 24 to 28 January 2007.

BBC World’s business team, headed by Manisha Tank and Declan Curry, will be broadcasting live for World Business Report from 0530 to 2230 GMT on Wednesday 24, Thursday 25 and Friday 26 January. They will be providing an insight into the issues under discussion, as well as meeting delegates in attendance.

They include Intel CEO Craig Barrett, Egypt PM Ahmed Nazif, FlickR co-founder Catarina Fake and MTV International's Bill Roedy.

There will also be a series of one-minute vignettes produced throughout the week showcasing senior global business leaders attending the meeting. BBC World news presenters Nik Gowing and Jonathan Charles will be live in discussion with the biggest global names in government and business on the news bulletins throughout the period. They will also be presenting Davos Report – twice-daily 15-minute news programmes offering in depth coverage and analysis from the annual meeting.

The BBC’s weekly multimedia phone-in programme Have Your Say will be broadcasting a special programme from Davos which will be aired on 28 January 2007. Presented by Bridget Kendall, the programme will look at the growing threat to the world economy from risks such as climate change, terrorism, pandemics and oil prices, and discuss whether these are a consequence of inadequate action by governments and business. Viewers’ and listeners’ can put questions to the studio guests, enabling a conversation across continents and broadcast platforms.

On 26 January 2007 BBC World will record The World Debate: Climate Change as part of the official agenda at this year’s meeting, chaired by main presenter Nik Gowing. This special debate will be broadcast on BBC World on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 January.

The debate will ask a panel of key delegates about the sea change in public pressure for environmental sustainability, and why some leaders, and not others, are willing to take risks to implement radical climate change.

The participants in the debate will include British Petroleum CEO Lord Browne, France Minister of Budget and State Reform Jean-François Copé, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers (KPCB) partner John Doerr and Siemens president and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld.

In the course of the discussion they will examine whether it is the politicians or the public forcing the urgency of the climate change debate. Other questions that will be debated will be, whether governments and political leaders are prepared to take the decisive measures to ensure trends are capped and reversed, and do governments have the skills and capacity to start doing what is needed?