Pope calls on global elite gathered in Davos to fight poverty

Pope Francis has called on business and political leaders to do more in the fight against global poverty, in a letter addressed to participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.

The pope warned that the world was "increasingly threatened by violence, aggression and fragmentation."

For the "common good of our human family," companies and states must work together for far-sighted and ethically justifiable models of globalization, he wrote, demanding that the interests of the poor and needy be taken into account.

He called hunger one of the world's worst injustices.

"Hunger continues to afflict entire regions of the world, while others are characterized by excessive waste of food," criticized Francis.

"The exploitation of natural resources continues to enrich a few. By contrast, entire population groups, who would be the natural beneficiaries of these resources, are left in a state of poverty."

Business executives, politicians and campaigners from all over the world are taking part in the annual forum in the Swiss Alps.