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Greta Thunberg brought a stark message to the business elite gathering in Davos: Everybody is talking about climate change, but nobody is doing anything.

Her appearance at the opening of the World Economic Forum was a striking sign that the debate about how to stop the Earth warming has become mainstream in business circles. Yet only a handful of executives from the oil, gas and coal industries that are chiefly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions were seen attending the panel at which Thunberg spoke on Tuesday.

“The climate and environment is a hot topic right now, thanks to young people pushing,” 17-year-old Thunberg said at the Swiss ski resort, where about 3,000 business and political leaders gather each year. “Pretty much nothing has been done, since the global emissions of CO2 have not reduced.”

The debate on climate change is forcing executives from all kinds of sectors to respond to demands to stop carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The panel “Forging a Path to a Common Future” kick-started the 50th edition of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, which this year has a strong focus on climate change.

There was a full room at this first 8.30 a.m. panel -- something relatively unusual for a climate change event at Davos. Several executives had to stand at the back of the room, prompting the organizers to bring in more chairs. However, none of the chief executives of the top oil companies attending the World Economic Forum were in the room.

“This is just the very beginning,” Thunberg said. “Global CO2 emissions have not been reduced and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

--With assistance from Akshat Rathi.

To contact the reporters on this story: Javier Blas in Davos at jblas3@bloomberg.net;Laura Millan Lombrana in Santiago at lmillan4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Rutkoff at arutkoff@bloomberg.net, James Herron, Rakteem Katakey

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