Duncan Tucker

I am on my way to Davos for the 25th edition of the World Economic Forum. Are we truly entering an ‘Intelligent Age’, as the World Economic Forum posits, driven by artificial intelligence, robotics and biotech advances? Hard to believe given the gravity of the challenges facing humanity. There is nothing intelligent about letting tech companies run amok, without robust safeguards to protect us from the worst impulses of corporate power and the adverse consequences of unprecedented technological growth. There is nothing intelligent about letting technological leaps widen existing divisions, and inequalities and facilitate authoritarian practices, as we’re already seeing. T There is nothing intelligent about allowing machines to make decisions to kill people There is nothing intelligent about enabling the annihilation of international law, attacking international justice and pretending the Palestinians of Gaza are not the victims of a genocide by the Israel authorities. For all the promise of the digital age, it has also brought us widespread anxiety, heightened polarization and oceans of disinformation. Without ironclad human rights protections built into the heart of the technological development process, the utopia some promise could all too easily descend into dystopia. Talk of safeguarding the planet will ring hollow until world leaders stop letting fossil fuel companies sacrifice our future through their relentless, all-consuming pursuit of profit. The corporate actors retreating from previous commitments to stop growing the fossil fuel industry will cause costly destruction and untold human rights violations. Protecting our planet must begin with commitments to vastly scale up climate finance and fund a rapid, full and just phaseout of fossil fuels, while helping affected communities adapt to the worst impacts of climate change and providing reparations for climate-caused losses and damages. Reimagining growth requires a genuine commitment to reforming the global financial system. If this is to be a worthwhile exercise, attendees must stop propping up the crumbling system that delivers unimaginable wealth to a tiny minority at the expense of the suffering of billions. Instead of perpetuating these problems, those gathered at Davos must use their considerable influence to fix them. They must recognize that the human and economic costs of maintaining the status quo are as incalculable as they are unjustifiable. If we are to achieve a better future, we must reconsider paradigms of growth and prosperity and expand our thinking beyond narrow metrics such as GDP. To effectively address structural and systemic inequalities, we must find new and innovative ways to measure and deliver shared and sustainable advances. Crucially, this demands strong actions so that justice is delivered, historical crimes are addressed, and conflicts and arms race are reigned in. Let us be intelligent enough to to secure a future in which both human dignity and our planet thrive.

Following @amnesty, here is now @hrw report concluding that Israel is committing the crime of humanity of extermination and acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, providing evidence of Israel's widespread deprivation of water, threatening survival. hrw.org/news/2024/12/19/isra…