Beyond the Forum’s public impact through its initiatives, this Annual Report shares the Forum’s financial statements and outcomes on non-financial metrics such as environmental, social and corporate governance measures.

The Forum uses the Stakeholder Metrics, which it developed with partners, for this assessment.

Almost 160 companies have now adopted the Stakeholder Metrics in their mainstream reporting materials, including annual and sustainability reports.

A brief summary of the four pillars of these non-financial metrics follows:

During the reporting period, the Forum continued to strengthen its governance pillar. Internally, as the guardian of the institution’s commitment to compliance with laws and regulations in all its initiatives, the Forum enhanced its risk management processes, upgraded its third-party due diligence, and continued to upskill its staff in this area.

In its external-facing work, the Chief Legal Officer Community was launched, and the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) Community continued to expand. Both communities, collaborating with the thought leadership of the Forum’s Global Future Council on Good Governance, leveraged their legal and regulatory expertise across various initiatives to address critical topics from business integrity and supply chain to climate governance and AI governance.

Forum staff levels continued to grow in 2023-2024, with a total headcount of 990 as of 30 June, an increase of 9% on 2022-2023. The Forum has an increasingly global workforce – 97 nationalities represented (up from 95 in the last reporting period). Women now make up 50% of middle management roles and 30% of senior roles across the organization. As part of a longstanding commitment to maintaining gender pay equity, the Forum also continued to conduct a salary analysis in August 2023, which showed no significant gaps between the salaries paid to men and women at the Forum. The Forum has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of harassment or discrimination.

In the reporting period, the Forum updated its pay ranges, leveraging external benchmarking data to ensure continued competitiveness in the markets where it operates. As part of its commitment to investing in its workforce, the learning budget was increased by 16% year-on-year to CHF 1.63 million. This supported an increase in both the breadth of programmes offered and the number
of learners.

In its external-facing work, the Forum continues to mobilize its platform for social inclusion and workforce development, including the work noted earlier in the report on gender parity, jobs, skills and the future of work.

The organization continued its efforts to reduce emissions over the reporting period. Scope 3 emissions, including flights and travel of Forum constituents and stakeholders, account for the majority of its emissions. The Forum continued encouraging its constituents to travel to events by train and improved the use and transport of materials. To reduce waste, the Forum collaborated at its Annual Meeting for a third year with local organization GreenUp on its circular economy initiative, GreenShare, which repurposes materials.

The Forum also continued to purchase carbon removal credits according to its emissions and maintained its adherence to the UN Global Compact. In addition, the Forum started a process of reviewing its current sustainability strategy.

In its external-facing work, the Forum continues to mobilize its platform and convening power to support initiatives in nature, climate, economic transformation and technology, such as promoting sustainable aviation fuel.

Value creation is at the heart of the Forum’s mission. During the reporting period, the organization maintained its significant direct and indirect economic impact through the work of its centres and events, promoting collaboration between experts, civil society, and political and business leaders
to enhance socioeconomic progress.

A 2023 study completed by the University of St. Gallen, which measures the economic impact of the Annual Meeting on Davos and Switzerland, estimated the direct financial impact to be CHF 181 million, with Davos receiving CHF 100 million of this. The findings underscore the ongoing and substantial economic benefits of the Annual Meeting. The Open Forums, as well as the Forum’s significant public engagement platforms, offer ongoing access and insight to the broader public.