IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva cautions that the measures needed to tackle the climate emergency means that some industries will be less profitable in the future.

Christine Lagarde says the key to mobilising action is to remember the old advertising maxim:

There are three things that make people move -- sex, fear and greed.

She’s not going to address the first (this is a family liveblog, Christine), but the other two can drive action.

Lagarde talks about need to price the cost of transitioning to a low carbon economy.

If we do that, and we have pressure -- voluntary or no so -voluntary - we can get companies to move faster, she says.

Mnuchin, though, disputes whether green measures can really be priced.

We don’t know how to price the risk of climate change, so we’re over-estimating the cost, he claims.

If you want to introduce a carbon tax, then “go ahead” adds the Treasury secretary, adding that a carbon tax is “a tax on hard-working people”.

Germany’s finance minister, Olaf Scholz, tells Davos that his country won’t take an economic hit from Brexit.

It will be harder for the UK, though, Scholz warns -- warning that the City of London will be less important after Brexit.

It will still be important, but the situation will be different, he says.

Speaking on today’s panel on the global economic outlook, Scholz warns that a country simply cannot have all the advantages of being a member of the EU while also enjoying the advantage of being outside as well.

I think we will find solutions, Scholz continues, but he adds that there might not be a “special, competitive advantage of being outside” the EU.

On trade, Steve Mnuchin says the UK will be at the top of the list for a free trade deal, after Brexit.

Asked about the United States’ trade deal plan this year, the Treasury Secretary:

We’ve already started the conversions with the EU. We look forward to making progress with them.

On the UK, the president has been clear going back to the election that the UK is our number one ally and will be at the top of the list of trade agreements.

We look forward to getting that done this year.

We’re encouraged. We know they also have to get a deal with the EU.

ECB chief Christine Lagarde fears that Europe faces a Brexit “cliff edge” at the end of this year.

She tells Davos that there some positive signs surrounding the global economy - with employment very low, and trade tensions easing.

But the negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with the EU is a concern.

Lagarde says:

Brexit is a little bit less uncertain, but we still have that possible cliff edge in December of 2020.

We don’t’ know exactly what the trade relationship will be.

And it’s a big partner for the euro area, so that’s certainly a question mark.

Earlier this week, UK chancellor Sajid Javid told the World Economic Forum that a comprehensive deal can be reached by December.

But it’s going to be tough. Yesterday, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte told Ed Conway of Sky News it was a 50:50 chance.....

Back in the Davos congress hall, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva is talking about the global economy.

She has a positive-ish message, saying:

We are in a better place in January 2020 than we were in October 2019.

There are three reasons:

• Trade tensions are receding - the signing of the US-China trade deal has raised confidence
• Central banks have ‘served the world well’; 49 central banks have cut interest rates 71 times
• The slump in manufacturing and industrial production seems to be bottoming out

That’s why the IMF has raised its growth forecast for 2020 to 3.3% from 3.1%. But that is still “sluggish”, Georgieva cautions.

The IM wants to see more aggressive fiscal policy, and structural reforms to create dynamism.

Climate activists will continue to lobby Siemens over its involvement in the Adani coalmine in Australia, says Luisa Neubauer.

Neubauer says activists have met with Siemens CEO Joe Kaiser, and explained why the mine will threaten any hopes of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees.

We plan to speak at the Siemens AGM in February, Neubauer says.

Kaiser has written about the struggle he had about whether to pull out of the project, before deciding not to (a good example of the problem)

Q: How did it feel to be publicly insulted by the US president, and the US treasury secretary yesterday?

Greta Thunberg replies that it had “of course, no effect”.

Climate activists are used to such comments, she adds:

We are being criticised like that all the time. If we cared about that, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

Greta Thunberg has said that the World Economic Forum has completely ignored the climate movement’s demands (on fossil fuel divestment) this week.

As long as we do not treat this crisis as a crisis, and as long as the facts are ignored, we will not solve this crisis,Thunberg says.

We need to understand the urgency of this situation, she insists, adding:

Our demands have been completely ignored, and we expected nothing less.

As long as the science is being ignored, and as long as the facts are not being taken into account, leaders can continue to ignore the situation, Thunberg continues.

Back in Davos, activist Isabelle Axelsson from Sweden is speaking about the climate emergency.

We cannot rely on technologies that do not exist, she says (ie, world and business leaders can’t assume that something will turn up to tackle rising emissions).

Vanessa Nakate from Uganda says we need to look at climate justice - because we all have a story to tell about how the impact of the changing climate is affecting communities.

Nakate has been camping with other activists in tents in the Arctic base camp in Davos this week - this shows we have left our comfort zones, she explains.

Newsflash: The UK economy has returned to growth this month.

That’s a sign that confidence is rising following December’s election, making an interest rate cut next week less likely.

Markit’s flash PMI, which tracks activity across the economy, has risen to 52.4, which shows growth. That’s up from 49.3 in December, which signalled a contraction.

Good morning from Davos, where the final day of the World Economic Forum is getting underway.

The annual shindig of the global elite, and some of their sternest critics, is wrapping up at lunchtime today.

Out on the streets, some of the corporations who took over Davos’s promenade are packing up, taking down their glossy posters.

But it’s not back to normal yet. Inside the Congress Hall, we’ll hear an update on the state of the world economy.

On the panel: Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, German finance minister Olaf Scholz, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda and ECB chief Christine Lagarde.

And outside the hall, Greta Thunberg (who Mnuchin thinks should go and learn economics) will be holding a school strike to focus attention on the climate emergency.

We’ll also get a new healthcheck on the UK economy today, when Markit’s survey of purchasing managers’ is released.

It will measure how businesses are faring this month, and whether there’s really a Boris Bounce taking place after the election. If not, then a weak reading raises the chances of a UK rate cut next week.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank says:

Today’s data will give a first indication about the health of the British economy having found a certain political stability amid Johnson’s solid victory in December and a way to move out of the European Union avoiding the much-feared no-deal scenario.

A strong PMI read could tune down the rate cut expectations that spiked from nearly zero to 60% for the Bank of England’s January meeting. Any disappointment, on the other hand, should further revive the BoE doves and pave the way for the pound to slide below $1.30 before next week’s monetary policy meeting.

The agenda

• 10.30am Davos / 9.30am GMT: UK flash PMIs
  
  
• 10.30am Davos / 9.30am GMT: Session on ending single-use plastic
  
  
• 11am Davos / 10am GMT: Greta Thunberg leads a school strike for the climate emergency
  
  
• 11.30am Davos / 10.30am GMT: Session on the world economic outlook with Lagarde, Mnuchin, Georgieva, Kuroda and Scholz.