US President Donald Trump has decried climate prophets of doom in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where sustainability is the main theme. He called for a rejection of predictions of the apocalypse and said America would defend its economy. Mr. Trump did not directly name the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was in the audience. Environmental destruction is at the top of the agenda at the annual summit of the world's decision-makers, which takes place at a Swiss ski resort.

Mr. Trump in his keynote speech said that it was a time for optimism, not pessimism, in a speech that touted his administration's economic achievements and America's energy boom. Speaking of climate activists, he said, these alarmists always demand the same thing - absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives, they were the heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune tellers.

Soon after he spoke, Ms. Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish climate activist who has led a global movement of school strikes calling for urgent environmental action, opened a session on Averting a Climate Apocalypse. She refrained from naming Mr. Trump but issued this warning to the world's leaders. she said "I wonder, what will you tell your children was the reason to fail and leave them facing... climate chaos that you knowingly brought upon them? That it seemed so bad for the economy that we decided to resign the idea of securing future living conditions without even trying? "Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fuelling the flames by the hour, and we are telling you to act as if you loved your children above all else." She strongly criticized politicians and business leaders for what she said were continuous empty words and promises.