The climate crisis, Greta Thunberg and Donald Trump took the headlines at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. The Forum, now in its 50th year, has already been dubbed the "global heating Davos" with Mark Carney expressing his belief that the financial sector is now getting to grips with the investment risk of climate change and will adjust its behaviour accordingly. The Forum also further established Greta Thunberg as a household name and a global force after she went toe-to-toe with Donald Trump and members of his cabinet....and won. Steve Mnuchin clearly underestimated the strength of support for the diminutive, Swedish student when he said he'd only start listening to Thunberg when she had a degree in economics. The climate activists' message was also given further weight on Thursday when the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists revealed that the metaphorical Doomsday Clock has been set at 100 seconds to midnight, signaling that the human race is closer to an apocalypse than ever before. The bulletin cited the two existential dangers of climate change and worsening nuclear risk as the likely catalysts for a global catastrophe. And for the first time they expressed the time on the clock in seconds to "underscore the need for action". Add in a dose of the coronavirus, which appears to be accelerating its global spread, and you'd be forgiven for wondering if The Weekly editorial team has simply caught a strong case of the January blues. Never. And certainly not after the English cricket team posted 400 runs in their first innings against South Africa yesterday and look set for a memorable Test series victory!

Continuing on a more upbeat note, there were plenty of positives to take away from Avison Young's "Big Nine" office markets presentation on Tuesday which reported healthy occupational demand in the key regional cities. Manchester, for example, saw take-up of 2.2 million sq ft in 2019 with prime rents reaching £36.50 psf. Edinburgh, where rents stand at £36 psf, was shown to have the most critical supply side shortage. Given the demand/supply dynamics (and the failure of rents to keep pace with build cost price inflation), Avison Young expects further rental growth in 2020 with a step change in rental values in the next six months. In terms of trends, it was noteable that leasing activity for flexible offices is up 1,200% since 2015 and landlords were warned to ignore shifting expectations from occupiers at their peril. Space in the regions is at a premium, but occupiers are increasingly putting health and staff well-being at the forefront of decision-making, whilst energy efficient, smart buildings (with a corresponding low carbon footprint) will eventually become a non-negotiable requirement. As the analogy goes, you wouldn't expect to pay a premium for electric windows and bluetooth in your new car, but you probably wouldn't buy a new car without them...

At 11pm next Friday, the UK will leave the EU once and for all. Yet despite the furore and division that has surrounded Brexit for the last three years, it feels like the UK is quietly slipping out via the fire exit door without so much as a farewell wave. Last year was a maelstrom of meaningful votes, late night crises and resignations. Indeed, in the build-up to the UK's withdrawal, there have been 179 select committee reports and 859 ministerial statements, whilst MPs have stood up to ask about Brexit a staggering 6,241 times. So why the deafening silence since Christmas? Though it has no doubt been a welcome relief for most of us, the collective Brexit boycott is most likely born out of simple fatigue or resignation, and the quiet relief that we can all still go to Marbella for our summer holidays this year. So with talks about transition periods and Free Trade agreements firmly side-lined for another day, how should we go about enjoying our final week as members of the European Union? One option - though not strictly advocated by The Weekly - would be to embark on an EU28 pub crawl, where you have a pint in every European capital. The aim being you start with a swift Guinness in Dublin and finish (slightly worse for wear) with a refreshing Mythos somewhere in Athens. The obvious bonus of doing it now is that, from Saturday, it'll only be the EU27 pub crawl and you will have the satisfaction of calling anyone who does it a mere lightweight!