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Our allies sometimes come from what I would prejudge as “unexpected places”. Let’s take for example The World Economic Forum (WEF). Tomorrow it will gather CEOs and heads of states in the fancy ski resort of Davos; you might agree that it is not usually closely associated with the social movement.

However, in its “Global Risks 2014”, the WEF includes income inequalities in its top 10 highest global risks. “Failure of a financial mechanism or institution, fiscal crisis and liquidity crisis are risks closely interrelated among themselves and also with the risks of high level of unemployment and underemployment, income disparity and political and social instability”! The WEF does not stop there. Its number 2 “risks and trends to watch” is “societal concerns” which “include the breakdown of social structures, the decline of trust in institutions, the lack of leadership and persisting gender inequalities. Risks related to ideological polarisation, extremism (…) were also frequently highlighted”. Doesn’t that ring a bell with you when thinking about social trends in the EU?

Now, let me serve you the cherry on the cake: the WEF wonders “how can the post millennial generations be socially better protected? And the second key element of its answer is “a systemic environment that fosters long term investments will be crucial to prevent this young generation from being lost”: I’m done; I want my membership of the WEF!

The WEF Report goes as far as to propose to governments to shift cultures away from a focus on quarterly results and towards the kind of long term thinking that is a prerequisite for addressing global risks.

Social Platform has been warning EU leaders about the long-term social consequences of rising inequalities, about the need to consider long-term social investment over short-term economic priorities on growth without jobs. I can only say that we remain at best unheard and more often denied. Read for instance the speech from the President of the European Council at the opening of the Greek Presidency. He stated “I hope that in 2014 we can finally leave the worst economic crisis in our living memory behind us, in Greece and in the rest of the Union. Our efforts are bearing fruit, here and elsewhere”. There were no signs of worry over global risks and increasing income inequalities in his assessment.

I hope that if EU leaders do not listen to us, they will at least heed the warning from the WEF and think about long-term investment in our societies in order to avoid already existing political and social instability. All the information is available in, for example, the latest Oxfam report “Working for the few” published last week and which confirms that “Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population, and seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years”.

Let’s engage

Pierre Baussand – Director