Inflation crisis poses greatest near-term global threat, Davos survey warns
A customer hands over an Egyptian pound banknote for a purchase at Al-Monira food market in the Imbaba district of Giza, Egypt, in January 2023. Egypt is one of many countries where consumers are struggling with sharply higher prices, highlighted by the World Economic Forum as the greatest global risk in 2023.
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The World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Report highlights the cost of living crisis as the biggest short-term risk facing the world right now, with climate change as the biggest long-term threat.
The report, which has been published ahead of the Davos summit for the last 17 years, factors the views of 1,200 figures across the private and public sectors.
This year’s edition — produced with professional services firm Marsh McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group — said that Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic had propelled the energy crisis, food scarcity and inflation as the most pressing global issues.
“We’re looking at something that feels new, but at the same time eerily familiar,” Carolina Klint, risk management leader for Continental Europe at Marsh, told CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche.
“So we see a return of some older risks that we felt we had made good progress in terms of solving, but are now very much back on the risk map.”
The impact of the cost of living crisis on vulnerable populations are “very difficult to accept,” Klint said.
“Governments are now really working towards mitigating that impact, at the same time as they’re trying to protect from spiralling inflation and servicing historically high debt loads.”
The report says the world must collaborate more effectively on climate mitigation and adaptation over the next decade to avoid “ecological breakdown” and continued global warming.
It adds that governments will face “trade offs” in the coming years, as societal challenges, the environment and security risks compete for their attention.
The most-cited two-year term risks included natural disasters, geoeconomic confrontation, the erosion of social cohesion, widespread cybercrime, large-scale involuntary migration and natural resource crises, alongside climate change.
Cybercrime and migration also featured as long-term risks, though climate-related issues took the top four spots. The cost of living was absent from the list.
“I would interpret it as a bit of optimism that we’ll be able to navigate out of this stress that we’re in currently, which is the result of a compounding crisis,” Klint said. “It’s an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also, of course, the impact of Russia-Ukraine, which has had a spillover effect on so many different areas.”
The World Economic Forum Davos summit begins on Jan. 16 with the tagline “cooperation in a fragmented world.”
Tesla has inked its first deal to build a grid-scale battery power plant in China amid a strained trading relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The U.S. company posted on the Chinese social media service Weibo that the project would be the largest of its kind in China when completed.
Utility-scale battery energy storage systems help electricity grids keep supply and demand in balance. They are increasingly needed to bridge the supply-demand mismatch caused by intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind.
Chinese media outlet Yicai first reported that the deal, worth 4 billion yuan ($556 million), had been signed by Tesla, the local government of Shanghai and financing firm China Kangfu International Leasing, according to the Reuters news agency.
Tesla said its battery factory in Shanghai had produced more than 100 Megapacks — the battery designed for utility-scale deployment — in the first quarter of this year. One Megapack can provide up to 1 megawatt of power for four hours.
“The grid-side energy storage power station is a ‘smart regulator’ for urban electricity, which can flexibly adjust grid resources,” Tesla said on Weibo, according to a Google translation.
This would “effectively solve the pressure of urban power supply and ensure the safe, stable and efficient electricity demand of the city,” it added. “After completion, this project is expected to become the largest grid-side energy storage project in China.”
According to the company’s website, each Megapack retails for just under $1 million in the U.S. Pricing for China was unavailable.
The deal is significant for Tesla, as China’s CATL and carmaker BYD compete with similar products. The two Chinese companies have made significant inroads in battery development and manufacturing, with the former holding about 40% of the global market share.
CATL was also expected to supply battery cells and packs that are used in Tesla’s Megapacks, according to a Reuters news source.
Tesla’s deal with a Chinese local authority is also significant as it comes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from China, straining the geopolitical relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was also a close ally of President Trump during the initial stages of the trade war, further complicating the business outlook for U.S. automakers in China.
The demand for grid-scale battery installation, however, is significant in China. In May last year, Beijing set a new target to add nearly 5 gigawatts of battery-powered electricity supply by the end of 2025, bringing the total capacity to 40 gigawatts.
Tesla has also been exporting its Megapacks to Europe and Asia from its Shanghai plant to meet global demand.
Capacity for global battery energy storage systems rose 42 gigawatts in 2023, nearly doubling the total increase in capacity observed in the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed reporting.
Environment
BYD is testing solid-state EV batteries in its Seal sedan with nearly 1,200 miles of range
BYD has now begun testing solid-state EV batteries in its Tesla Model 3-rivalling Seal. Initial tests suggest that the total driving range could reach nearly 1,200 miles (1,875 km).
BYD begins testing solid-state EV batteries in the Seal
It has been over a decade since BYD first began researching and developing the promising new EV battery technology.
Last year, the company reached a milestone by testing its first solid-state battery cells with capacities of 20 Ah and 60 Ah. We knew BYD was planning to launch its first vehicles powered by the new batteries in 2027 after Sun Huajun, the CTO of BYD’s battery business, confirmed the timeline earlier this year.
At the 2025 China All-Solid-State Battery Innovation and Development Summit, Sun stated that BYD has officially installed solid-state batteries in its popular Seal EV and is now testing them on roads.
Once testing is finalized, which is expected to occur in 2027, BYD plans to begin installing solid-state batteries in its production vehicles.
Between 2027 and 2029, production will be limited during the first two years. However, in 2030, BYD plans to begin mass production. BYD has previously said that by the end of the decade, it expects “liquid and solid to be the same price.” In other words, solid-state batteries will be about the same cost as current liquid lithium-ion batteries.
The Seal, BYD’s Tesla Model 3-rivalling electric sedan, is expected to be the first EV available with solid-state batteries, starting in 2027. Other models will begin to hit the market in 2028 and the following years.
BYD’s solid-state batteries have an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, or nearly twice that of current lithium-ion batteries.
According to local reports, BYD’s solid-state EV batteries set a record by gaining 1,500 km (932 miles) range in just 12 minutes of charging.
The test charged the battery to just 80%, meaning total EV range could reach upwards of 1,875 km (1,165 miles). Keep in mind, that is CLTC range. On the EPA scale, it would be closer to 1,300 km (808 miles), which is still way more than enough.
BYD’s Seal currently starts at just 175,800 yuan in China, or about $25,000. When it initially hits the market in 2027 with solid-state batteries, the Seal will likely be priced higher.
Electrek’s Take
BYD is already dominating the global EV market. It just surpassed Tesla in Europe and the UK in monthly registrations for the first time, and this could be just the start.
With several new batteries and plenty of other EV technologies, including ultra-fast chargers, smart driving features, and advanced new platforms, BYD is laying the groundwork for more growth over the next few years.
Not only that, BYD is already known for its low-cost cars like the Seagull (Dolping Surf in Europe), priced under $10,000 in China. The new tech is expected to unlock longer driving range, faster charging, and lower costs.
BYD will compete with CATL, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Nissan, and several others that are also aiming to launch their first EVs with solid-state batteries around 2027 or 2028. Nissan’s director of product planning in Europe, Christop Ambland, confirmed the company’s timeline this week with Auto Express, saying, “We will be ready for SSB (solid-state batteries) in 2028.”
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