U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres ratcheted up his warning about climate change and said the world’s thirst for fossil fuels is a “Frankenstein monster” that spares no one, while calling for greater attention to risks posed by artificial intelligence if its ascent goes ungoverned — even as some leaders played up its promise.

The World Economic Forum has held a meeting every year since it was founded in 1971. But why is Davos, as it is commonly known, so significant?