With moneymaking opportunities rising, traditional climate change advocates - Al Gore and Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan - will mingle in panel discussions with executives such as HSBC Holdings PLC Chairman Stuart Gulliver and Patrick Yu, president of Cofco Corp, the largest food company in China. They will discuss the nexus between the fight against global warming and business - both how to stop climate change and how to profit from it.

"Climate change is material and central for many companies and their boards," said Dominic Waughray, head of public-private partnership at the World Economic Forum. "Climate change is a core part of the growth agenda."

'Fight will continue'

Beyond the official program, a record 60 chief executive officers are expected to gather in a closed-door session to discuss the challenges of climate change, according to a person familiar with the event, who asked not to be named because the meeting isn't public.

In the Alpine resort's congress center, the World Economic Forum has built an exhibition highlighting climate change, "from rampant emissions to rising sea levels".

Michael Oppenheimer, a professor at Princeton University who will help to explain the exhibit, said despite the arrival of Trump, the fight against global warming will continue.

"No matter what the US president says, the progress on climate change can have many routes," he said. "The US can harm progress, but will not stop progress."