new Despite these obstacles, leaders cannot let a desire for perfection give way to paralysis. Rather than delay and debate the complexity of the perfect plan, companies need to show they are acting, despite increased complexity. This means sustaining focus on the core issue: cutting emissions. Efforts to do so won’t be a straight line along a perfect plan. Many of the early wins around carbon reduction have been exhausted–and marginal gains are harder to achieve. Real change will require increased investment, strategic planning, and transforming operations–all while facing competing economic pressures. Stakeholders are looking for action, and the need to prioritize long-term, sustainable value creation–for them and the planet–couldn’t be stronger. COP28 is an opportunity to convene, discuss and learn, but the attention will be on those who act. — Fortune, 8h ago

new ...“The Hong Kong Jockey Club established the Institute of Philanthropy recognising that many of the issues confronting communities require global solutions and collaboration”, said The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “This collaboration, one of the first initiatives of the Institute of Philanthropy, aims to address the most urgent global issue of all, namely climate change and the huge impact it is having on the health of communities everywhere. Leveraging the convening power and financial resources of the Institute of Philanthropy in the East and The Rockefeller Foundation in the West, we aim to build nothing less than a global network of human and technology resources dedicated to strengthening global health resilience to climate change.”... — The Rockefeller Foundation, 13h ago

new Dubai | December 3, 2023 — Climate change threatens to reverse decades of global development progress and puts the health and livelihoods of future generations in jeopardy. Data indicates a rapid increase in temperature, humidity and rainfall which negatively impacts health, agriculture and vulnerable populations including women. For example, increasing temperatures and rainfall from El Nino support growth of mosquitoes in new locations which previously did not support mosquito populations resulting in spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. There is an urgent need to invest in creative solutions that adapt and build resilience to these existing and future climate related challenges. — The Rockefeller Foundation, 13h ago

new ...“We cannot tackle the climate crisis without urgently phasing out unabated fossil-fired electricity generation and replacing it with zero-carbon energy around the world. And as developing countries continue to face the worst impacts of the climate crisis, the rapid transition to clean energy is vital to strengthening their resilience and boosting economic growth,” said Nat Keohane, President, C2ES. “The Energy Transition Accelerator can make a vital contribution to this transition by mobilizing a new source of climate finance, serving to bring together companies and others seeking to buy high-quality carbon credits with developing countries that are poised to invest. The ETA’s innovative sectoral-scale crediting approach, and its emphasis on ensuring a just transition in participating countries, will help developing economies move to clean energy at the scale and speed needed, while providing companies with an additional high-integrity means of reducing emissions as part of their corporate climate strategies. C2ES looks forward to continuing to work with the partners and stakeholders involved in the ETA to continue to refine the ETA framework and bring it to fruition.”... — The Rockefeller Foundation, 13h ago

new The gigaprojects then, along with the arts and heritage programmes, are part of a process that brings cultural change, while enforcing the political status quo. They are also happening because Prince Mohammed likes them. If The Line looks like a pharaonic ego trip, Dr Azzam also reports the prince’s interest in the AlUla masterplan, and in such subtler things as the palette of pigments made in the Madrasat Addeera out of multicoloured local rocks. Like many works dictated from above these projects have an erratic relationship to reality and consistency: while The Line verges on the unhinged, it’s also questionable whether five major works of land art plus several museums are best located in AlUla, whose small population and remote location will struggle to handle large visitor numbers. The profligate construction of the gigaprojects, and in some cases the dependency on planes and cars to get to places, will – despite Vision 2030’s claims of sustainability – have a huge and destructive environmental impact. — the Guardian, 15h ago

new Meanwhile, COP28 President Dr Sultan Al Jaber, said: “Climate change cares little about our politics, our borders, or our differences in religion. Our success depends on our ability to come together as one global community to solve it, and global faith communities play a significant role in instilling awareness of the shared social responsibility of all people worldwide towards environmental protection. Faith communities have come together in a truly historic moment of hope, peace, and optimism, uniting around a shared commitment to protect our planet.”... — gulfnews.com, 18h ago

new COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said: “COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said: “Climate change cares little about our politics, our borders, or our differences in religion. Our success depends on our ability to come together as one global community to solve it, and global faith communities play a significant role in instilling awareness of the shared social responsibility of all people worldwide towards environmental protection. Faith communities have come together in a truly historic moment of hope, peace, and optimism, uniting around a shared commitment to protect our planet.”... — Khaleej Times, 18h ago

new Maria's situation is not an isolated case. The Philippines is ranked as the world’s most disaster-prone country due to its high susceptibility to disaster and lack of adaptive and coping capacities. During disasters, both direct and indirect care work increase due to disruption of care-related services. Recognizing climate change’s profound impact on care work, the Philippines has been at the forefront of addressing the climate-care nexus. Oxfam Pilipinas and its partners have been campaigning to tackle social norms, advance policy reform and emphasize the importance of unpaid care work in community resilience building, leveraging evidence of exacerbated care tasks post-Haiyan. — ESCAP, 18h ago

new ...“Addressing climate change is a global challenge, and the private sector has a clear role to play in financing the decarbonisation journey. Beyond the long-term positive impact on the environment, we believe there are real and concrete opportunities for investors to target strong returns through climate investment,” said Mohammed Alardhi, Executive Chairman of Investcorp. — mea-finance.com, 21h ago

new H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, said: “Empower’s participation in the COP28 is highly significant, as evidenced by the breadth and depth of its engagement, which includes bringing together key stakeholders in the global district cooling industry from various nations. This distinctive participation at the international event aligns with Empower’s global strategy of providing comprehensive support to humanitarian causes, particularly those about climate change. Empower remains persistent in its commitment to corporate social responsibility by raising awareness of the risks of global warming and its detrimental consequences for humanity and development in various countries”. — mid-east.info, 1d ago

new Intense, ongoing stress can, at any age, contribute to disease, from psychiatric disorders to obesity and diabetes. But in the first years of life – and also in the womb – such stress can have dramatic ramifications. “The wars in Israel, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and the unprecedented global refugee crisis that is caused, in part, by climate change, alongside an increased understanding of the long-term harm caused by exposure to war and violence at a young age – all these highlight the need for better rehabilitation capabilities,” says Chen. “Our new study identifies a key brain mechanism that is especially sensitive to childhood trauma. But the most exciting part is the prospect of using the plasticity of the young brain to help it recover, avoiding the toll this trauma can exact in adulthood.”... — Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries from the Weizmann Institute of Science, 1d ago

new In a larger sense, today many discussions of climate, from reducing emissions to paying for a transition to green energies like wind and solar, are framed around the idea that rich countries are historically responsible for the current situation and thus have a moral imperative to pay more to confront it. — jamaica-gleaner.com, 1d ago

new ...“LSHTM is focused on human health as an outcome, climate change as a threat. We’re looking for interventions, polices and strategies and to work in partnership, to benefit human health and also help with climate change, to reduce impact of climate change happening and also have a beneficial impact on human health. For example, in agriculture, food systems, and the way we deliver things.”... — LSHTM, 1d ago

new Climate change threatens our ecosystems and the wellbeing of all living beings on Earth. Achieving society’s climate objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 as set in the Paris Agreement will require a profound shift across the global economy. However, this shift will fail if not done through a transition that ensures just economic and social benefits and protects vulnerable populations. A just transition involves maximising the social and economic opportunities of climate and environmental action, including an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises, while minimising and carefully managing challenges. — unepfi.org, 1d ago

new The need for international cooperation as a successful climate action has been emphasised, and while the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, expressed optimism that COP28 will bring significant results, he noted that the geopolitical situation, with many nations at loggerheads over the war in Ukraine, and still frosty relations between the US and China, would make for a difficult summit. He said, “The most important challenge [to limiting temperature rises to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels] is the lack of international cooperation.” A lack of global solidarity has been proposed by the Bangladeshi climate envoy as being the main obstacle to averting climate change, and has stressed the need to create a loss and damage fund. Disquiet has also been expressed that, in addition to the war in Ukraine, the 2023 Israel-Hamas war may adversely affect negotiations at COP28. — resilience, 2d ago

new To keep the goal of 1.5 degrees within reach and reduce the risk of breaching near-term tipping points, the world must take fast action on non-CO2 greenhouse gases, as an essential complement to the energy transition and ending deforestation. While CO2 will determine our long-term climate future, non-CO2 greenhouse gases have an outsized impact on near-term temperatures. Accelerated cuts to methane and non-CO2 gases could avoid up to 0.5 degrees of warming by 2050. Non-CO2 greenhouse gases also cause almost 500,000 deaths every year from respiratory illnesses and 5-7 percent of global crop losses at a time when global production is already strained. Rapidly reducing non-CO2 emissions is a three-in-one solution, advancing global climate, health, and food security objectives simultaneously. — United States Department of State, 2d ago

new The inaugural Health Day at COP28 marks a significant step in prioritizing the importance of climate and health on a global scale. The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to amplifying this impact through collaboration with its partners to increase the quantity and effectiveness of financing focused on supporting the efforts of low- and middle-income countries to mitigate, withstand, and respond to the escalating impacts of climate change on health. Though more than 90% of countries including health-focused priorities as part of their National Determined Contributions for climate mitigation and adaptation under the Paris Agreement, recent data suggests only 0.5% of climate financing is allocated toward health projects. Moreover, countries face a bevy of requirements – unique to each funder and imposed on them – when attempting to access funding. — The Rockefeller Foundation, 2d ago

new As with many things at the international level, progress in one area is often simultaneous with a perceived lack of progress in others. Despite efforts of the United Nations to push for more global gender equality, feminist scholars such as Tickner (2005) have argued that women suffer from discrimination that means they are still not being taken seriously at both an institutional and grassroots level. And, it is hard to read the case of Saudi Arabia vis-à-vis the United Nations as evidence of this changing. Discrimination and inequality for women remains, particularly in states that may be suffering from poverty, war or deprivation. And, when António Guterres became UN Secretary General in 2017 he continued an unbroken run of male leadership going back to the founding of the organization in 1945. As a result, and despite progress, feminists remain watchful over the United Nations and critical of its ability to achieve the results needed. A continued negative gendered perspective within the functioning of the organisation serves to slow or hinder structural change for women around the world. The critique seems to have caught on and Guterres (2020) has made commitments towards using his leadership to make this ‘the century of women’s equality’. — E-International Relations, 2d ago

new My research interests are varied and I tend not to espouse a specific research agenda because of the diverse nature of our doctoral programs relative to the size of our college. Examples of doctoral research studies I have guided include the following: MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: (1) Examining the effect on student achievement and attitudes of graphing utilities in college algebra courses taught at two-year colleges; (2) Exploring the influence instructional use of calculators in elementary grades has on student performance on the mathematics component of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT); (3) Applying a conceptual change model, commonly used to assess students' misconceptions of key science concepts to community college mathematics teachers misconceptions of how students learn mathematics; (4) Examining the spacing effect theory (i.e., how variations in the frequency and timing of instruction affect student learning) with respect to 3-, 2-, and 1-day per week schedules in college algebra. SCIENCE EDUCATION: (1) Examining the effect of biology-based virtual and physical field trips relative to students' science achievement and attitudes; (2) Examining the effect of conceptually-based instructional strategies on science achievement and attitudes of community college students in first-semester general biology, microbiology, and human anatomy and physiology courses; (3) Investigating the direct and indirect effects of teacher attributes, classroom attributes, and instructional strategies on Namibian junior secondary school teachers' locus of control, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward desertification; (4) Investigating the effect of student- and teacher-centered instructional strategies with and without conceptual advocacy on ninth-grade biology students' misconceptions, biology achievement, attitudes toward science, and cognitive retention of scientific method and measurement, spontaneous generation, and characteristics of living things. COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION: (1) Examining the effects of a computer-based feedback and assessment environment on Taiwanese students' English language acquisition; (2) Examining the effect of a classroom restructuring involving the introductory course in computer science (CS 1); (3) Examining the perception of control relative to Taiwanese students’ affective domain (locus of control, self-efficacy, test anxiety) in three different types of testing environments: computer-based (CBT), pseudo computerized-adaptive (pseudo-CAT), and pseudo self-adaptive (pseudo-SAT). AVIATION SCIENCE EDUCATION: (1) Developing a causal model to help explain and predict the relationships among various attributes of airport executives that lead to a career in airport management. AVIATION SCIENCES: (1) Identifying factors that contributed to certified flight instructors (CFIs) becoming complacent, which could then be manifested as a lack of or reduced vigilance. (2) Identifying factors related to hazardous events that were precursors to runway incursions classified as pilot deviations. (3) Examining the relationship between factors affecting the aviation profession and the concept of aviation professionalism. (4) Examining the safety climate at targeted U.S. based aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities. (5) Examining the survival strategies of U.S. domestic airlines relative to their route exit/entry decision patterns and air fare competition dynamics. — fit.edu, 2d ago

new Bondar: The benefit of earning trust may appear to be immeasurable and intangible, but we have found the opposite to be true. Proactively earning trust requires understanding what it is, what the expectations are to earn from stakeholders and how trusted the organisation is in their eyes. Therefore, quantitative insights are needed to evaluate levels of trust, gaps and opportunities for the organisation internally, externally and in the context of its industry peers and benchmarks. Enterprise trust assessment is based on a 360-degree view of an organisation, evaluating performance across domains, ranging from leadership to customer experience, supply chain resilience to cyber posture, and the increasingly important sustainability and climate credentials. Supporting these domains, are 90-plus drivers of trust – underlying organisational actions – that should be executed with a high degree of competence and good intent. The key takeaway is that trust is tangible, measurable and possible to earn even in times of crisis where trust may have been compromised or lost. — Financier Worldwide, 2d ago

new Climate change may create significant physical risks for Black populations in the United States, but it could create opportunities to address existing racial gaps, too. A concerted effort at understanding the impact of climate risk for Black workers, business owners, consumers, savers, and residents can help the private and public sectors identify racial gaps, allow for timely adaptation to build resilience against physical risks, and enable equitable access to climate finance opportunities. — McKinsey & Company, 2d ago

new Location factors involve various elements, such as geographic, economic and environmental factors. These play a key role in assessing project viability, reducing risk, making strategic decisions and ensuring accurate cost estimates. Location factors include labor rates, local productivity, taxes, utility costs and regulatory compliance costs. Labor rates can vary due to regional wage disparities, while workforce productivity is influenced by education and training. Taxation policies impact project expenses, and regulatory environments require compliance adjustments. Utility costs fluctuate based on local infrastructure and energy sources. Proximity to raw-material suppliers affects supply chain efficiency. Transportation costs depend on logistics and access to distribution centers. Real-estate costs vary by location, while climate, economic conditions, political stability and cultural factors play essential roles in cost estimation and project planning. Understanding these location factors is essential for accurate cost estimation and project planning in different types of projects and industries. — Chemical Engineering, 2d ago

new Exhibit A is Amara’s law, named for scientist, researcher and former President of the Institute for the Future Roy Amara. He is best known for saying, “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.” Boy howdy, does that ever apply to digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence specifically. AI may change the world — curing cancer, reversing climate change or taking all our jobs while creating a bunch more new ones — but mostly in the outbound years and decades. In the near term, it creates shadows for us to worry about, plan around and get distracted by even as we experiment and put it to work.In many respects, GenAI represents a victory lap for Moore’s law, based on Intel co-founder Gordon Moore’s formulation about the exponential growth of computational prowess. Originally coined in 1965 around the doubling of transistors on microchips every couple of years, it bumped up against the physical limits of silicon-based technologies. As AI models grow massively in size, from millions to billions and even trillions of parameters, the underlying hardware continues to keep pace even as margins narrow. Chip maker Nvidia, with its combination of advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) and tensor processing units (TPUs) that are optimized for AI tasks, reaches beyond transistor density in pushing the upward limits in the exponential increase in computational power.Not far behind, but perhaps in a supporting role, is Metcalfe’s law. Named for Ethernet inventor Robert Metcalfe, it suggests that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of its users. When the campaign for digital government was young, broadband penetration reached 51 percent — giving advocates the opportunity to claim that government could then serve a “digital majority.” As of last year, that number has reached 90 percent. The stakes are high for the remaining 10 percent, often characterized as underserved communities including low-income and racialized populations along with people who have chosen not to engage in a connected world. By extension of Metcalfe’s law, more user interactions contribute to AI’s knowledge, which relies on iterative feedback for fine-tuning and improvement. The absence of marginalized voices is deafening to generative models. They cannot be trained with what isn’t there, increasing the risk of unconscious bias and the skewing of results. — GovTech, 2d ago

new Industries and businesses will also be affected. But they also play an important role in addressing the problem because, one, they have the money to invest in solutions that could achieve long-term impact and, two, because these carbon- and water-intensive sectors contribute to pollution and scarcity in specific watersheds and climate change on a planetary scale. It is critical that this sector gets involved and actively engages with other actors to solve the big environmental challenges we face. — Eco-Business, 2d ago

new The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gave the world a surprise on its first day, Thursday. Delegates from more than 160 countries unanimously agreed to formally establish the Loss and Damage Fund, pledging more than $400 million to support the world's particularly vulnerable countries in their efforts to cope with the loss and damage caused by climate change. This groundbreaking progress has brought much-needed good news to the world, raising confidence and expectations for the outcomes of this conference.The issue of funding has been a focal point in recent UN climate conferences, with prolonged and intense debates surrounding the amount of aid and compensation developed countries should offer for their historical emissions, as well as the ways of raising and distributing the funds. However, the urgency of the severe climate change situation has led to significant achievements. Developed countries have committed to mobilizing $100 billion a year to support climate finance. The establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund was a decision made at COP27 in Egypt in 2022, but its implementation has not been easy. Nonetheless, this time, several developed countries have made pledges toward the fund. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), host country of COP28, committed $100 million, Germany, $100 million, the UK, 40 million pounds (about $50.6 million) and 20 million pounds for other arrangements, Japan, $10 million, and the US, known for its grandstanding on climate issues, only $17.5 million. When it comes to paying, some countries revealed their true face. The amount pledged by the US is meager in comparison with its status as the world's largest economy and the responsibility in addressing climate change it should bear given its highest historical cumulative carbon emissions, leading to criticism from attending delegates and experts who deemed it "disappointing," "shocking," and "embarrassing."However, amid this disappointment, there were heartening developments. When the US once again let the world down at the critical moment, other countries stepped up. On the second day of the climate conference, Friday, the UAE announced $30 billion for a new climate finance fund, aiming to mobilize $250 billion by the end of the decade. It also aims to improve the flow of money into projects to reduce emissions, especially in the Global South.Washington should really feel ashamed of this scene. The New York Times bluntly questioned in a September article: How Long Can America's Climate Hypocrisy Last? "It's nothing new for climate ambition and climate hypocrisy to flicker back and forth like the two faces of a lenticular hologram," said the article. Even the American media itself says so, showing how bad the US' performance is on climate issues.Another typical example is the deliberate effort by the US to woo Pacific island nations, establishing new embassies and claiming to help them maintain "maritime security." However, when it comes to the climate issues that these countries genuinely care about, Washington exhibits conspicuous stinginess and parsimony. The true focus of Washington in its diplomacy is becoming increasingly evident to people.At any rate, the US cannot be absent when addressing the issue of climate. Even if other countries are proactive, they cannot fill the irresponsible void left by the US. Conversely, if the US fails to set an example on climate issues, it completely loses its qualification to pursue global leadership. In any case, the US must shoulder its due obligations and responsibilities. The Democratic Party shows a more positive attitude toward climate issues than the Republican Party. The Biden administration should take advantage of its time in office to push for substantive progress on climate issues with greater determination and force.This current climate conference's crucial agenda is the "Global Stocktake," where each contracting party will review progress and gaps in implementing key provisions of the Paris Agreement. The focus will also be on "four paradigm shifts": fast-tracking energy transition and slashing emissions before 2030; transforming climate finance, by delivering on old promises and setting the framework for a new deal on finance; putting nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action; mobilizing for the most inclusive COP ever. These are ambitious goals indeed.In the realm of climate, every step forward is incredibly challenging. It is precisely because of this difficulty that each achievement is so valuable. Regardless, we observe that human society is moving forward step by step, even though the pace is still too slow and lags behind the rate of environmental degradation. How to ensure that this collective effort of all humanity involves less short-term selfish calculations and more long-term vision of shared future, and stronger climate actions, is crucial for the future and fate of humanity. No one can escape or evade this duty, especially for countries with significant responsibilities and obligations. — globaltimes.cn, 2d ago

new The United States announced a multi-year U.S. pledge of $3 billion for the GCF for its Second Replenishment, subject to the availability of funds. This funding will support the GCF in its mission to mobilize finance to help developing countries reduce their emissions, enhance energy security through diversification of energy sources, assist the most vulnerable to adapt to climate impacts, and strengthen the resilience of their economies and critical infrastructure. In the context of our pledge, the United States will continue to champion an ambitious GCF evolution agenda to help ensure that future U.S. funds provided to the GCF have maximum impact for U.S. taxpayers with respect to climate and diplomacy. — United States Department of State, 2d ago

new ...“Dubai recognises the critical importance of the environment and is fully committed to its preservation as a top strategic priority for ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. The profound challenges posed by global climate change have exerted significant pressure on various forms of wildlife, and Dubai is strongly dedicated to playing a substantial role in mitigating these effects through initiatives that promote the sustainability of our natural environment, with particular emphasis on coral reefs. Coral reefs are a vital component in the protection of marine life and have both economic and environmental significance. We are pleased to see this promising project launched in Dubai, contributing to global efforts aimed at conserving coral reefs,” he added. — gulfnews.com, 2d ago

new ..."Dubai recognises the critical importance of the environment and is fully committed to its preservation as a top strategic priority for ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. The profound challenges posed by global climate change have exerted significant pressure on various forms of wildlife, and Dubai is strongly dedicated to playing a substantial role in mitigating these effects through initiatives that promote the sustainability of our natural environment, with particular emphasis on coral reefs. Coral reefs are a vital component in the protection of marine life and have both economic and environmental significance. We are pleased to see this promising project launched in Dubai, contributing to global efforts aimed at conserving coral reefs," Sheikh Hamdan said. — Khaleej Times, 2d ago

new But crafting effective policies to transform our fossil-fuel-based economies in time to avert climate catastrophe and meet humanity’s energy needs is a daunting task. Tackling it head-on requires a combination of technical, economic, and political expertise, along with significant financial resources and labour, but the agencies charged with devising and implementing these critical policies are understaffed and underfunded. Too often, regulators have no choice but to rely on the information provided to them by the very industries they are charged with overseeing. This dynamic can result in weak regulation and missed policy objectives. — Eco-Business, 2d ago

new The success of ChatGPT speaks foremost to the power of a good interface. AI has already been part of countless everyday products for well over a decade, from Spotify and Netflix to Facebook and Google Maps. The first version of GPT, the AI model that powers ChatGPT, dates back to 2018. And even OpenAI’s other products, such as DALL-E, did not make the waves that ChatGPT did immediately upon its release. It was the chat-based interface that set off AI’s breakout year.There is something uniquely beguiling about chat. Humans are endowed with language, and conversation is a primary way people interact with each other and infer intelligence. A chat-based interface is a natural mode for interaction and a way for people to experience the “intelligence” of an AI system. The phenomenal success of ChatGPT shows again that user interfaces drive widespread adoption of technology, from the Macintosh to web browsers and the iPhone. Design makes the difference.At the same time, one of the technology’s principal strengths – generating convincing language – makes it well suited for producing false or misleading information. ChatGPT and other generative AI systems make it easier for criminals and propagandists to prey on human vulnerabilities. The potential of the technology to boost fraud and misinformation is one of the key rationales for regulating AI.Amid the real promises and perils of generative AI, the technology has also provided another case study in the power of hype. This year has brought no shortage of articles on how AI is going to transform every aspect of society and how the proliferation of the technology is inevitable.ChatGPT is not the first technology to be hyped as “the next big thing,” but it is perhaps unique in simultaneously being hyped as an existential risk. Numerous tech titans and even some AI researchers have warned about the risk of superintelligent AI systems emerging and wiping out humanity, though I believe that these fears are far-fetched.The media environment favors hype, and the current venture funding climate further fuels AI hype in particular. Playing to people’s hopes and fears is a recipe for anxiety with none of the ingredients for wise decision making. — GovTech, 2d ago

new The Domestic Resource Mobilisation (DRM) Program Subprogram 1 is ADB’s first policy-based loan dedicated to DRM reform. It addresses the country’s need to tackle discrepancies in tax policy frameworks to boost tax compliance, reduce tax avoidance, and raise more revenues from activities and products that have a major impact on the environment or contribute to climate change. — Eco-Business, 2d ago

new My steadfast commitment to making a difference and serving as a solution provider has been the driving force behind my entrepreneurial journey. I firmly believe that as entrepreneurs, our primary role is to solve problems and contribute to community betterment. This passion extends beyond business, encompassing a profound desire to effect positive change on a larger scale. The entrepreneurial journey, for me, is not solely about personal success but leveraging my skills and resources to elevate the status quo. Whether through training, innovative solutions, or community development, I am dedicated to playing a pivotal role in making Nigeria a great country. As an entrepreneur, being a catalyst for progress requires a keen awareness of societal challenges and a relentless pursuit of viable solutions. This mindset fuels my determination to navigate complexities and contribute to transforming Nigeria into a beacon of success and prosperity. — The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News, 2d ago

new ...“We have lost three billion birds since 1970, and climate change threatens two-thirds of the continent’s bird species. We have an imperative to build out our clean energy infrastructure to reduce planet-warming emissions to protect both communities and wildlife,” said Johnson. “In order to meet these goals, we need updated standards that allow industries to move nimbly enough to meet the moment, while still building projects responsibly. These proposed rules would provide needed clarity on reasonable sector-wide standards for industry and can be a win-win for birds and businesses. We look forward to working with the administration to finish the job on this important rulemaking effort and urge swift action.”... — Audubon, 2d ago

new Therefore, in the first chapter of this dissertation we ask if differences in detection rates are present and unaccounted for in COVID-19 surveillance data. We find that evolving case definitions, continued improvements to diagnostic testing, and widespread changes in how and where people were detected suggest that this is likely occurring in these data. Furthermore, excess mortality estimates are a more stable and consistent data type that could be used in place of COVID-19 surveillance data. In Chapter 2, we examine whether the results of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) impact analyses change if excess mortality estimates are used in place of COVID-19 observed deaths. We find that in two of the four studies analyzed, results are reversed. In Chapter 3, we detail a number of implicit assumptions underlying COVID-19 NPI impact analyses that might not be expected to hold for emerging infectious diseases. In particular, we find a lack of pre-intervention data, the possibility of jurisdiction grouping in the pre-intervention period, challenges in modeling intervention effects, and unexpected impacts of differences in specifications of outcome variables, even when studies are all using, for example, observed deaths. Finally, in Chapter 4, we compare COVID-19 observed cases, COVID-19 observed deaths, and excess mortality when estimating the effect of lifting NPIs. We find that COVID-19 observed cases (as an outcome variable) and linear regression models (as an analysis technique) are particularly sensitive to changing detection rates and thus likely lead to erroneous results. — Georgetown University, 2d ago