For the first time in nearly two years, global influencers are descending on the alpine town of Davos for the 2022 World Economic Forum.

The meter-high snowbanks accompanying the summit during its regular January date are gone – but the guest list of business leaders, politicians, and people involved with philanthropic causes is still complete.

The rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in December prompted organizers to delay the date to late May.

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Organizers say the 2022 edition comes amid "unprecedented" geo-economic challenges. The war in Ukraine, surging global inflation, and fast approaching climate change deadlines are issues high on the agenda.

"We are faced, I think with the most challenging geo-political and geo-economic situation for decades," said Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum.

"We have a big recovery that easily can turn into a recession, we have not that much moments on the green transition, as we had hoped. And we are not out of the woods when it comes to the COVID pandemic."

The WEF has brought leaders in business, politics, and philanthropy to Switzerland since the early 1970s. It was known as the European Management Forum at its debut.

Over 50 years, the bar for progress has been set high. Unlikely opponents in business and politics have put their differences aside on a number of occasions – including a 1988 treaty that helped Greece and Turkey narrowly avoid war.

Though the Davos summit may dream of changing the world for the better, some point out that words spoken at the summit don't always amount to much concrete action afterward.

Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg told attendees in 2020 that "pretty much nothing has been done since the global emissions of CO2 has not reduced."

The event has also caught flack for its massive carbon footprint, as a number of attendees traditionally arrive in private planes and helicopters.

WEF's President Brende told CGTN Europe that the summit would be filled with major green commitments from corporate partners, including "many companies announcing that they will go net zero when it comes to C02 emissions by 2050."