World Economic Forum summit 2020: full dates, schedule and speakers including Greta Thunberg and Donald Trump

This weeks sees the World Economic Forum return to the Swiss Alps town of Davos, with observers claiming just two people - one in her teens - will dominate this year’s gathering of the global elite.

(Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

With climate change set to dominate proceedings, this Davos is being billed as Trump v Thunberg, and both the US president and the teenage environmental campaigner addressed delegates on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump delivered what organisers called a special address, and hailed his economic record as evidence that his “America First" policy is working.

Here's everything you need to know about it:

(Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

What did Greta Thunberg say?

Greta Thunberg kicked off the first day of talks at Davos with a plea to put science at the centre of the conversation on the climate crisis, not her.

Ms Thunberg said the struggle against climate change will require more than just general awareness, adding that science needs to be at the "centre" of the conversation.

Ms Thunberg began proceedings by reflecting on the incredible 18 months since she began her climate strike.

When the 17-year-old was asked if she felt activists are being heard enough, Ms Thunberg said: “I can’t complain about being heard, I’m being heard all the time.

"But science isn’t at the centre of the conversation, and it needs to be," she said.

Stating that "it's not just me", Ms Thunberg acknowledged the hundreds of thousands of young people around the world who have created "an alliance of movements".

"People are more aware now," she said. "It feels like the climate and environment is a hot topic now, thanks to young people pushing."

Despite this, nothing has been achieved as global emissions continue to rise, she said.

"These aren’t anyone’s views, this is the science."

She added that forecasts don't include feedback loops and tipping points and often assume that “future generations will somehow suck hundreds of billions of tonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere, even though such technology doesn’t exist yet."

"I’ve been repeating these numbers at nearly every speech I’ve given for the last 18 months," she continued.

What did Trump say?

Donald Trump decried climate "prophets of doom" in his keynote speech, calling for a rejection of "predictions of the apocalypse" and saying that America would defend its economy.

Mr Trump did not directly name the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was in the audience.

Later, she excoriated political leaders, saying the world "in case you hadn't noticed, is currently on fire".

Trump said that it was a time for optimism, not pessimism, in a speech that touted his administration's economic achievements and America's energy boom.

Speaking of climate activists, he said: "These alarmists always demand the same thing - absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives." Greta Thunberg was in the audience.

They were, he said, "the heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune tellers".

What else is to come?

Thunberg will address the forum once again today

Highlights from the 2020 World Economic Forum programme:

For the Forum's full programme, head to the official website

Tuesday 21 January

The Reality of Racial Bias

Public Speakers: Cara Mertes, Phillip Atiba Goff

17:15 - 17:45 CET

UpLink: Linking Up the Next Generation of Change-Makers

Public Speakers: Melati Wijsen, Marc Benioff, Punit Renjen, Klaus Schwab, Sarah Kelly, Badr Idrissi, Allen Blue, Fatima Azzahra El Azzouzi

17:15 - 18:00 CET

Stakeholder Capitalism: What Is Required from Corporate Leadership?

Public Speakers: Jim Hagemann Snabe, Klaus Schwab, Ginni Rometty, Marc Benioff, Feike Sybesma, Brian T. Moynihan

18:00 - 18:45 CET

Wednesday 22 January

Free to Be (LGBTI)

Public Speakers: Ana Mari Cauce, Shamina Singh, Wanuri Kahiu, Tonia Mastrobuoni, Xavier Bettel, Geena Rocero

09:00 - 10:30 CET

An Insight, An Idea with Jin Xing

Public Speakers: Lord Tony Hall, Jin Xing

10:30 - 11:00 CET

The Power of Youth

Public Speakers: Maxime Crettex, Berengere Fouqueray, Micah White, Naomi Wadler, Autumn Peltier

12:30 - 14:00 CET

Securing a Sustainable Future for the Amazon

Public Speakers: Jane Goodall, Mishal Husain, Al Gore, Carlos Afonso Nobre, Ivan Duque

14:00 - 14:40 CET

Social Mobility: Reskilling the Next Billion

Public Speakers: Robert E. Moritz, Peter Hummelgaard, Jennifer Morgan, Jim Hagemann Snabe, Maxim Oreshkin, Saadia Zahidi

14:15 - 15:00 CET

A History of Feminism in the West

Public Speakers: Brian Schmidt, Mary Beard

15:00 - 15:30 CET

What's at Stake: The Arctic

Public Speakers: Sanna Marin, Scott Minerd, Gabriel O'Donnell, Gail Whiteman, Elena Cherney, Al Gore

16:00 - 16:45 CET

Gavi at 20: Lessons Learned from the World's Leading Vaccine Alliance

Public Speakers: Klaus Schwab, Sarita Nayyar, Christopher J. Elias, Felix Tshisekedi, Seth F. Berkley, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Paul Hudson

17:15 - 18:00 CET

The Future of American Foreign Policy

Public Speakers: David M. Rubenstein, Jane Harman, Gideon Rose, Amos Yadlin

17:30 - 18:15 CET

Thursday 23 January

How to Tax the Digital Economy

Public Speakers: Stephen Carroll, Katharina Pistor, Angel Gurría, Bruno Le Maire, Delia Ferreira Rubio

09:00 - 09:45 CET

How to Survive the 21st Century

Public Speakers: Yuval Noah Harari, Mark Rutte, Orit Gadiesh

10:00 - 10:45 CET

Social Mobility: Getting to 50-50 Gender Parity

Public Speakers: Fareed Zakaria, Sanna Marin, Jonas Prising, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Muriel Pénicaud

10:15 - 11:00 CET

An Insight, An Idea with Satya Nadella

Public Speakers: Satya Nadella, Klaus Schwab

10:30 - 11:00 CET

Closing the Disability Inclusion Gap

Public Speakers: Edward Ndopu, Molly Burke, Caroline Casey

13:00 - 13:45 CET

Special Address by Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Public Speakers: Angela Merkel, Klaus Schwab

14:15 - 15:00 CET

How to Turn Protest into Progress

Public Speakers: Autumn Peltier, James Harding, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Micah White, William F. Browder

14:30 - 15:15 CET

Striking a Green 'New Deal'

Public Speakers: Jane Harman, Jesper Brodin, Mark Rutte, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Frans Timmermans, Penny Abeywardena

14:30 - 15:30 CET

How to Measure a New Economy

Public Speakers: Heizo Takenaka, Gillian R. Tett, Douglas L. Peterson, Mariana Mazzucato, Saadia Zahidi

17:15 - 18:00 CET

Friday 24 January

A Decade to Deliver the Global Goals

Public Speakers: Mohamad Al Jounde, Paul Stoffels, Sarah Kelly, Achim Steiner, Wanjuhi Njoroge

09:00 - 09:45 CET

Being Out and Equal

Public Speakers: Jill Ader, Peter T. Grauer, Geena Rocero

09:15 - 09:45 CET

Breaking Free from Single-Use Plastics

Public Speakers: Kristin Hughes, Akira Sakano, Al Gore, Francine Lacqua, Tak Niinami, Melati Wijsen

10:30 - 11:15 CET

Global Economic Outlook

Public Speakers: Zhu Min, Steven Mnuchin, Olaf Scholz, Kristalina Georgieva, Haruhiko Kuroda, Christine Lagarde

11:30 - 12:30 CET