From the heart of Beijing to the edges of the global stage, you are at the Roundtable.
I'm Niu Honglin.
Every January, Davos becomes a gathering point for those who shape the global agenda.
Heads of state, CEOs, and policymakers debate risks that operate at planetary scale.
But as these conversations unfold, a quieter conversation is emerging on the sidelines.
How do they sound to the generation that will live longest with the consequences?
So Roundtable invites you to take a listen at the younger generation and hear about the youth's perspective on devils.
For today's show, I'm joined by Yishun and Steve Hatherly.
Now pull up a chair and join the conversation.
The World Economic Forum's annual meeting is wrapping up in Davos, where more than 3000 participants have spent the week debating trade tensions geopolitics, artificial intelligence and climate risks in a rapidly fragmenting world.
From globalization to AI governance and water security, the conversations have focused on how to manage uncertainty at scale.
But there's another perspective gaining attention, young people's.
Many are more worried about inequality, economic instability and shrinking job opportunities in the age of AI.
At the same time, they are redefining success and demanding a real seat at the table.
So here's the question.
How can we make sure that Devos may help shape a future young people can believe in, not one they feel locked out of?
Before answering this million-dollar question, let's first take a look at what is happening in Devos this year and what are some highlights that's worth our attention.
Yeah, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 is wrapping up in Davos Switzerland, on January, the 23rd.
This year's summit convened under the theme A Spirit of Dialogue, and it's marked by a record level of government participation, with over 3000 participants from 130 countries.
And among them a record 400 top political leaders.
Nearly 850 of the world's top CEOs and chairs, and also 100 leading unicorns and technology pioneers and companies, joined the gatherings in the annual meetings.
History so for China's call for globalization is one of the points that we will mention.
Vice Premier He Lifeng urged a return to free trade, cautioning that tariffs and trade wars have no winners and advocating for an inclusive economic globalization.
The vice premier said that China will continue to expand its opening up and its door will only open wider, and also noting that it will proactively align with high international standards and rules and will continue to create a market-oriented and internationalized business environment and treating domestic and also foreign enterprises equally.
Hmm.
Canada's Prime Minister is there as well, Mark Carney, right on the heels of his trip to Beijing.
And he was talking about principled pragmatism, and he was urging countries and nations to deal with the world as it is, rather than how they wish it to be.
And that's what principled pragmatism means.
It means pursuing these fixed core goals or principles, if you will, by using quite flexible and practical and often incremental methods to achieve them in the real world.
And it's kind of the opposite of just pure idealism, if you will.
For example, holding out for a perfect solution that aligns 100 with everyone's principles, and It's trying to find a solution where everyone can work together on things such as and I visited the website this morning.
This is kind of the mission statement.
We drive collaboration across five interconnected global challenges growth geopolitics, as you mentioned technology, people and the planet.
So working all together on all different types of topics related to those things to try to achieve goals that are better for all of us.
And when it comes to these kind of forums or summit, we have world leaders talking about or sharing their view of how to govern the globe better.
And of course, different countries would have different views. primary agenda.
And, at the same time, one thing about the Devils is that they have something called a global risks report.
And every year they would release the report and figure out what are some things that are threatening everyone living on this planet.
And the top risk is the geoeconomic confrontation.
And this risk rose to the top risk for 2026, surpassing environmental concerns in the short term due to immediate trade conflicts and fragmented supply chains.
It was followed by interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization, misinformation and disinformation.
And the report highlights that the economic risks are rising at the fastest pace among our risk categories.
In the short term,
Another point of discussion was, or another point of urgency, if you will, was that of dialogue.
And it falls in line with the theme this year, a spirit of dialogue.
And that's a reflection of how important it is to keep communication going and mitigate confrontation During difficult times.
Other topics included or include how to cooperate in a more contested world, how to unlock new sources of growth, how to deploy innovation at scale and responsibility with responsibility.
Those are other things that are being discussed as well.
And when we talk about the topics that are being discussed, we're only being very brief and I will pick out the real highlights that everyone are talking about.
Actually, a lot of things are discussed and a lot of quotes have emerged from the stage.
You hear world leaders and CEOs and important people sharing their valuable insights.
Sometimes suitable, sometimes a little inappropriate.
But that happens everywhere.
We do not We cannot anticipate everyone to know about everything.
So, that being said, we also see that for the younger generation, they also take a closer look at the situation and at the outcome of the forum.
At the same time, they are being looked at as well.
For this year, we see the Youth Pause 2026 as a report being released by the World Economic Forum.
And that captures the perspectives of nearly 4600 young people aged between 18 to 30 from 144 countries.
And that one, I would assume, have a lot of fun points.
Yeah, I mean, there's some interesting statistics.
It's kind of getting an idea of how young people feel about certain issues.
And one of the issues was economic outlook and the concern for inequality and the search for purpose.
The inequality gap is very much on the radar of the world's youth.
Nearly half of the respondents identify deepening inequality as the primary economic trend that is shaping the future.
In Europe and North America, 64 of youth felt worse off or feel worse off financially than their parents.
Also in terms of stress, and in terms of side work, side jobs, side hustles, if you want to call it that.
There was a feeling of financial strain being the leading cause of stress for 57 of respondents, primarily due to things like inflation and instability.
And this is what's driving that side hustle culture, that side work culture and freelance work, particularly in digital sectors.
And success is also a topic that has been discussed.
Modern career aspirations have shifted.
61 prioritize a sense of purpose and more than 58 prioritize work-life balance over traditional benefits like retirement savings or medical coverage.
It is just so fascinating to see that the voices of youth has also been heard in these kind of international meeting, and they have many, many special meetings that's designed for youths, and many organizations has also participated in that.
And geopolitical anxiety is also a topic that's been discussed.
Increased geopolitical tension is viewed as the defining political force of the next five years, cited by 59 globally, and also peaking at 72 in Europe and Eurasia.
They asked him about AI as well, of course, and this is how they feel.
60 said that they use AI tools regularly.
Two-thirds 66, fear that AI will reduce entry-level job opportunities over the next three years.
And despite the fact that there is high, rather informal, usage of AI we use chatbots all the time there's kind of a lack of formal AI training, they feel, with only a small minority enrolled in certified courses.
We've been talking about the concern of You know, will AI take our jobs in this industry, in that industry?
And those fears, according to the results of this report, seem to be not going away.
You know, what's fascinating for me is the fact that when global leaders are talking about the relatively more pressing issues, like we mentioned geopolitical confrontation and the lack of dialogue which may lead to geopolitical confrontation we see young people looking at pressure or the kind of quote unquote crisis from a longer term perspective.
They're talking about not only AI changing the face of the society.
They're also taking care or looking at environmental outlook.
They're thinking about the top global risk being climate change and environmental degradation are identified as the greatest threats to the world by 56 percent of respondents.
They are the future of the world, so they care a little bit more about the future of the world and they are trying to voice their opinion in important global stages so their concern can also be veiled and be valued.
And not that's not the only thing they're doing.
They're also seeking help from inner, not in their self, but their own communities.
They're forming different communities to address their stress.
Yeah, address their stress, address how they feel about themselves and the world.
And I think this is such a A necessary thing to address during this type of forum too, because this is what's on the minds of young people.
So most of the people said that they felt more connected digitally, but 44 of young people said that loneliness and social isolation was a major concern over the next 10 years.
And then another question 95 of respondents find that belonging to intentionally designed youth communities provides a critical space for growth and resilience and dialogue.
I thought that was quite worth talking about because of that specific language.
Intentionally designed youth communities.
So when you have 95 of young people that value these types of communities, they're not talking about online fandoms or vague vibe websites or whatever, or Instagram.
They're talking about real groups that already exist.
And young people are actually showing up.
So I looked up some examples, and here's one.
There's something called the Sunrise Movement in the United States and that's a youth-led climate organization.
But what keeps people involved isn't just the politics, it's the structure.
Because local hubs they meet together weekly.
They train new leaders, they give youth people real responsibility.
And it's a community where action, not just awareness, is kind of the entry point.
And their vision is, This is what they say.
We believe everyone should have access to clean air and water, full pantries of food, affordable housing, free public transportation, good and meaningful jobs, vibrant community centers and lives filled with joy.
We're building a movement to make that happen.
These are the types of communities that they're talking about.
Yeah, I think belonging is a topic that is being highly discussed, both domestically and internationally.
No matter when you're having a conversation like climate issues, but also it's uh, it's also about the things that we can have or encounter in our daily lives.
Um and um.
Creating that kind of sense of belonging is very, very important.
Uh, in the form that I think I've noticed, the communities today are growing, both number and scope, whether they're just built around shared interests.
Or personal development or some very, very serious issues that is happening globally.
People are increasingly drawn to gathering with others who can share the same values with them, isolated or lonely.
That can be on a personal level, but that can be on a global scale too.
You want to feel connected to the planet um, being a an important factor in the future of this world that you're living roundtable has always been there looking at what young people are doing, what they're contributing to the world, and last year we also aired our global south next generation voices and visions, and we've established that there have already been so many examples of young people, the younger generation, through different types of work, through the help of their own community or because of their own innovation, the starting of their own business, changing little bit after a little bit about how the world looks like.
And for these kind of conferences and summit, we see, or we're happy to hear, more voices from the younger generation because, after all, they are in charge of the future of our planet.
