Surrounded by people, tapping away at laptops, it’s hard to fathom that these people are the CEOs, media moguls and key leaders of our world.  As an outsider at the World Economic Forum – a 23 year old, just out of college, who works in the non-profit sector, it’s an amazing yet stimulating environment.

Wandering around the halls and passages, you pass people you’ve only read about or seen on the news, politely sipping coffee and having a chat to a friend or colleague. I was almost run down before by Bill Gates wandering away from his conference – or to be more precise – I was almost run down by the media posse wandering after him, keen to get a comment from the head of Microsoft, and more importantly today, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with his wife Melinda.’

For us, the group of young people here at Davos, it’s an amazing insight into how our leaders operate. And, to be honest, they’re just like normal people. Smiling, laughing and chatting away. But, the difference here is that what they say, think and do has a massive impact on the lives of millions around the world.

The Vice-Chair of Royal Dutch Shell chatting to a CNN journalist about climate change might appear just to be two people chatting about the state of the world, yet in their hands is ability to shape the world’s reaction to the most pressing issue of our time.

It’s something that even we are swept up in – as i finish typing this post, i’m off to our session, Wisdom of Youth, where we’re sharing the stage with Gordon Brown and Queen Rania of Jordan.

We’ll be pitching the idea of a Global Fund for Education, aiming to get funding and action on quality education for all onto the agenda of the world’s powerbrokers.

Then it’s off to the BBC debate on Climate Change, broadcast live on BBC World, and a key chance for us to put forward our views as normal citizens about how climate change is affecting us, and what we see as needing to be done.

simon moss