CEOs more bullish this year

Global chief executive officers are more confident about the economy and near-term prospects for their companies than they were a year ago, although the impact of recent political upheavals tops their list of longer-term concerns.

A PwC survey of nearly 1,400 CEOs released on the eve of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos found that 29 per cent expected global economic growth to pick up this year, up from 27 per cent last year.

It found that 38 per cent were very confident they could increase revenue growth in the next year, up from 35 per cent at the same time last year, which was a six-year low.

REUTERS

Firms agree to reduce plastic use

Forty of the world's biggest companies that are assembled in Davos have agreed to come up with cleaner ways to make and consume plastic as waste threatens the global ecosystem, especially in oceans.

The planet's dangerously polluted oceans will contain more plastic waste than fish by 2050 if urgent action is not taken, the companies warned.

Answering a call by British sailor and philanthropist Ellen MacArthur, multinationals such as Unilever, Procter and Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Dow Chemical made a commitment to increase recycling and cut back overall plastic use.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Clean energy pitch for Trump

Dr Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss pilot who circumnavigated the world in a solar-powered plane, wants to convince United States President-elect Donald Trump that investing in clean energy is key to creating jobs and growth.

Dr Piccard, chief executive officer of Solar Impulse, wants to meet Mr Trump after he has been inaugurated to highlight the falling costs of renewables compared with fossil fuels, he said in an interview ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"If they want to make America great again, they will need to use clean technologies and renewable energies," Dr Piccard said in a phone interview from Munich. "You will not have growth with old technologies."

BLOOMBERG