REUTERS NEXT-Notable quotes from the Reuters Next conference

And a hump eventually declines." "We are firmly of the view, and I'm confident, that inflation will decline in 2022." "There are ways to give clarity without making long-term commitments and I would err on the side of not making (a) very long-term commitment (at the ECB's Dec. 16 policy meeting) because there is too much uncertainty." "But equally, we need to very clearly indicate that we stand ready (to act), in both directions." SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION On the Omicron variant of COVID-19: "How worried should we be?

Reuters Next is hosting three days of interviews, panels and presentations with 150+ global leaders discussing the biggest business, social and environmental challenges for the year ahead. Following are some notable quotes from the final day of the Dec. 1-3 conference.

To watch the Reuters Next conference please register here https://reutersevents.com/events/next/ CHRISTINE LAGARDE, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT

"I see an inflation profile that looks like a hump. And a hump eventually declines." "We are firmly of the view, and I'm confident, that inflation will decline in 2022."

"There are ways to give clarity without making long-term commitments and I would err on the side of not making (a) very long-term commitment (at the ECB's Dec. 16 policy meeting) because there is too much uncertainty." "But equally, we need to very clearly indicate that we stand ready (to act), in both directions."

SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION On the Omicron variant of COVID-19: "How worried should we be? We need to be prepared and cautious, not panic, because we're in a different situation to a year ago."

"We need to wait, lets hope it's milder ... but it's too early to conclude about the variant as a whole ..." "We may never know (its origins)."

"Delta accounts for 99% of infections around the world. This variant would have to be more transmissible to out-compete and become dominant worldwide." "It is possible, but it's not possible to predict."

"It does seem to be able to overcome some of the natural immunity from previous infection." "The fact that they're not getting sick ... that means the vaccines are still providing protection and we would hope that they would continue to provide protection."

UGUR SAHIN, CEO OF BIONTECH "This (Omicron) variant might be able to infect vaccinated people. We anticipate that infected people who have been vaccinated will still be protected against severe disease ..."

"It is not clear whether this variant produces more severe disease." "This highly mutant virus came earlier than I had expected. I had expected some time next year and it's already with us."

"I believe in principle at a certain time point we will need a new vaccine against this new variant. The question is how urgent it needs to be available." VON HERNANDEZ OF CAMPAIGN 'BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC'

"Recycling can't compete with overproduction. So what we need is limits on virgin plastic production." PERRY WARJIYO, GOVERNOR OF INDONESIA'S CENTRAL BANK

"Our current projection is inflation starting (to rise) above 3% and moving up towards 4% sometime in second quarter or early third quarter 2023. But by nature, interest rate decisions need to be forward-looking, need to be preemptive, need to be front-loading." ANNA KOMINIK, ASIA PACIFIC DIRECTOR AT BOEING UNIT WISK

"We can't continue to use road transport; 3D mobility is really important." "Sixty-seven percent of the world's population will be cities by 2030, so that ground infrastructure can't keep up and is costly to overhaul. We have to move to the sky as a resource."

PETER BOONE, CEO OF SWISS CHOCOLATE MAKER BARRY CALLEBAUT (On ending child labour in the cocoa supply chain): "We cannot close our eyes to something which is out there we know should not be part of our supply chain."

PIYUSH GUPTA, CEO OF DBS, SOUTHEAST ASIA'S BIGGEST BANK "In Singapore, it's not that easy for digital banks to carve out space. Even in markets like Brazil and China you can see that the relative market share, size and growth of the incumbent banking system hasn't shifted very much."

JACEK OLCZAK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, PHILIP MORRIS "Our $1 billion target of achieving sales from non-nicotine products we can also to a very large extent achieve organically."

"Nothing we are doing should come as a surprise, we are putting in action the visions that we shared openly seven or so years ago about leaving cigarettes behind. This is completely moving the company in another direction." (Compiled by Catherine Evans; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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