Reaching the summits of Davos: a moment of self reflection

The train journey from Geneva to Davos made me question everything.

Family photo from the Davos Communications Summit 2026

From 22 to 24 April, the World Communications Forum Association (WCFA) hosted the ultimate communications summit in Davos, Switzerland. 

My journey started from Geneva, transversing almost the entire country to reach Davos.

Map of Switzerland showing the route from Geneva to Davos

I don’t know how politicians go to Davos during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings, but four train connections and two bus rides are definitely something.

A view that is hard to miss

The views though, the Swiss trains are so far the best in the world I have seen. Even with 10 minutes of connection time to catch the next train, while my anticipation was at its peak, the trains were always on time to the second. It was a rather refreshing experience from the German trains that I took during my studies in a little town called Kleve, where the trains sometimes arrived at the same time, but the next day.

Don’t even get me excited to start talking about the Indian trains — the Delhi to Agra train tickets usually come with breakfast and a freshly hot tea served, and honestly something I miss in Europe. And the fact that trains should not be ghastly expensive.

The scenic views were extraordinary. One can say, that it rather made a beautiful distraction and a greater possibility for me to forget catching the remaining 3 connections to reach Davos.

Speaking of politicians, the Davos Communications Summit welcomed David Richard Evans of Sealand, a British politician and the former general secretary of the Labour Party (September 2021 to 2024). His talk on the strategy and implementation that goes behind public relations and communications, particularly the digital campaigns led by the Labour Party, presented during the last year edition of the summit, was truly memorable and left a mark — so much so, that when I saw him in the train on the way to Davos after one year, I instantly recognized him. He was en route from London to Zurich to Davos. 

To my pleasant surprise, he remembered me as well. That truly meant a lot. 

But it was almost 9 pm, and more than networking, we were interested to making it to Davos. 

We reached Kloster Platz by train, the nearest station to Davos. To our respite, we instantly found the bus going to Davos Platz. Easy. We just followed the people who were going in the same direction. 

But it wasn’t all that respite as the real fun was about to begin.

We were dropped at the bus stop called Davos Platz and had to take the final bus connection to reach Davos Kongress Centre. If you are from Davos, perhaps it is obvious where the bus stop is for that route. It was the evening when the ice hockey team of Davos were playing. We asked the bus drivers around, who said they were here for the ice hockey match and do not know where is the exact bus stop.

It took us almost 30 minutes to trace the bus stop, meanwhile David, the Lord Evans of Sealand, also kindly tried to book an Uber. Given the history, I find it kind of hard to refer to a person with their formal titles first. If there is one thing I have learned living in Germany, it is that history is not buried and first name basis does not mean disrespect and respect does not always mean titles. 

Of course, by the time we found the correct bus stop, we saw the bus racing us to reach that stop. We waved at the bus driver like naive tourists, the bus driver saw us, but since we were not at the precise location to receive the bus, they did not stop. I wonder how many people desperately wait for the bus at nearly 10 pm at night, that precision becomes more important than kindness, and frankly, pragmatism. 

We finally figured out the correct bus stop, which was accessed from inside a parking lot opposite to the bus stop we were left at, followed by taking a lift to reach the floor above, cross the street and there it was. Obvious, right?

We finally got off on our respective bus stops, Davos Kongresszentrum and Horlauben, and bid a proud (that we figured this out) but weary goodbye and see you tomorrow. 

Now that we have reached Davos, not less than climbing a summit, I can actually talk about the summit. But wait, there's more to say.

It is worth pondering, what if every attendee of the Davos WEF annual meeting were to be mandated to come by train? Using private helicopters and jets and talking about changing the world, is wildly hypocritical. 

Reflecting on this journey, while made slightly pleasant with its views and an accidental company with someone also lost and going to the conference, it is a good moment to mention a few insights from the book that became my train companion, Good Economics for Hard Times, by Nobel-prize winning economists, Abhijeet Banerjee and Esther Duflo.

“Climate change is massively inequitable. The lion's share of COze emissions are being generated either in rich countries or to produce what people consume in rich countries.”

“Although Europe and the United States are responsible for a large share of global emissions to date, today's emerging economies (particularly China) are generating an ever-growing share of current emissions. In fact, China is the single largest emitter of car-bon. This is, however, largely due to goods produced in China but consumed elsewhere in the world. If we attribute the emissions to where the consumption takes place, North Americans consume 22.5 tons of COze per year per person, Western Europeans 13.1, Chinese 6, and South Asians just 2.2.”

“Citizens of rich countries and, more generally, the rich worldwide bear an overwhelming responsibility for any future climate change.”

“The problem is that poorer countries tend to be closer to the equator and that is where the real pain will be felt. To make matters worse, the residents of poor countries are less equipped to protect themselves against the potential bad effects of hot temperatures.”

“In 2011, 87 percent of households in the United States had air conditioning, but only 5 percent of Indians did.”

“The air-conditioning conundrum is a particularly heart-wrenching illustration of the trade-off India feels it is facing, between the present and the future. More generally, until the Paris Agreement in 2015, India had simply refused to contemplate limits on its own emissions, arguing that it could not afford to hinder its own economic growth and rich countries should bear the brunt of the adjustment. The position evolved when India ratified the Paris Agreement and came up with a concrete commitment, asking in exchange for some serious financial aid to afford the energy transition, to be financed from an international fund paid for by the rich countries.”

Richer nations are not doing a favour by financially supporting other nations to mitigate climate change and adopt cleaner technology.

The least that can be done is to pay reparations to the cost of climate change we are accelerating. I am surely, as a resident of France and the lover of hot showers, one of those. I still do not own a private jet to go to Davos and I spend a better half of my career widening awareness on clean technology. Check ADVANTICS. 

The best case is to have more youth in politics and leadership who will understand that the real war is not between borders, but the survival of all. 

If you don’t like refugees from war displacement, prevent climate refugees today.

Choose candidates who represent you well and understand the responsible needs after you have made a genuine effort to get viewpoints from outside your immediate social bubble. The reward might just be: a beautiful train ride to Davos that costs less than an EasyJet flight from London to Zurich. 

I have now returned back from Davos, after a spectacular time at the Communications Summit 2026. You can follow the activities from the summit and our panel talk on modern leadership on LinkedIn. These were 2 memorable days, a melting pot for critical discussion on public relations, ethics, AI and crisis communications.

My scribbles from the talk, just a few minutes before the panel

The panel talk on Modern Leadership: From vertical to horizontal

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I returned to Geneva along the same route, thankfully with one less stop, and plenty time on the train ride to capture these reflections. Now over to yours.