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Urgent Private Funding is Needed to Fight Climate Change: Nigel Green

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Increasing deadly weather extremes around the world prove that mobilising private capital is “essential” and “urgent” in order to combat climate change, says the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations.

The call-to-action from deVere Group’s game-changing chief executive, Nigel Green, comes as it is revealed the past seven years have been the hottest on record, according to new data from the EU’s satellite system. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said 2021 was the fifth-warmest year, with record-breaking heat in some regions.

Nigel Green comments: “With almost depressing predictability, a ton of new heat records were smashed in 2021 and we witnessed more and more shocking extreme weather events.

“From the deadly heatwave that struck the west coast of the U.S. in the summer to the severe winter storms that shut down the grid in Texas in February; from Kenya’s two consecutive failed rain seasons, to the central region of China being hit with more rain in three days than in a normal year, there’s no getting away from the fact that the situation is getting increasingly serious all over the world.

“How many more major, real-world incidents do we need to underscore what the experts have been saying for years? This is happening quicker than many had anticipated.”

He continues: “With a growing frequency of incidents and higher levels of severity, it’s clear that governments alone cannot combat the worst effects of human-triggered climate change.

“Governments are best-positioned to develop, implement and manage policy, incentives, standards, metrics and regulations. And, yes, they must also provide top-level funding.

“But due to the tens of trillions likely to be needed for disaster prevention and mitigation, there will remain a major funding gap if we rely solely on the public sector.

“This is especially true as governments are still battling with the unprecedented financial fallout of the Covid pandemic, for which no country was prepared and that upended economies globally.”

Therefore, says Nigel Green, it is “essential to enable, unlock and mobilise private capital as a matter of urgency.”

To do this, the deVere CEO suggests a three-pronged approach.

First, “We need cooperation between financial advisories, insurance firms, banks, wealth and asset managers, investment companies, fintech groups, banks and auditors, amongst others, to help unlock and mobilise the trillions of dollars of private finance that is urgently required. Without this, the level of funds required will simply not be there.”

Second, “A global regulatory framework for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is now urgently required to further boost confidence and protections for investors.”

And third, “All climate risk and vulnerability data must be made immediately available by governments and their agencies as it is concluded in order to further strengthen the case for ESG-orientated investments.”

deVere’s calls follow the organisation’s pledge to position $2bn of assets under advisement into environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments within five years.

The Group is also one of 18 founding signatories of the UN-backed Net Zero initiative, the international alliance of powerhouse global finance companies that will help accelerate the transition to a net zero financial system. Its membership means it is committed to “aligning all relevant products and services to achieve net zero greenhouse gases by 2050 and to set meaningful interim targets for 2025.”

Nigel Green concludes: “Climate change remains the most serious risk multiplier to our planet, to our communities, and to our way of life.

“Failing to understand the magnitude of it now is going to have catastrophic, irreversible consequences later.

“Urgent private finance inflows are essential.”

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NCC Confiscates ₦23 Million Worth of Pirated Books During Bookstores Raid In Uyo

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The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on Saturday, November 2, confiscated ₦23.1 million in pirated books from local shops, including Academic Needs and Zion Bookshop during a raid in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The raid was by the Deputy Director of Operations, Mr Macfoy Akachukwu, representing the NCC Director General, Dr. John Asein.

Akachukwu, who stated that the raid was a significant operation to combat the rampant sale of pirated books, listed the books seized during the raid to include: Basic Civic Education by Dr Merry Ukaegbu, Spectrum New Further Mathematics by T.R. Moses and Essential Christian Religious Study for Senior Secondary Schools by Orovwuje B.O and Okolie E.U.

Other books included Macmillan Brilliant English for Junior Secondary Schools by Wale Ossianwo, New General Basic Science for Junior Secondary Schools by S. Ajayi, New Oxford Secondary English Course for Secondary Schools by Ayo Banjo and New Concept Mathematics for Senior Secondary Schools by H.N. Odogwu among others.

Major publishers affected by the raid included Evans, UPL, Lantern, Longman, TONAD, and Pearson among others.

According to Asein, the operation is important as it was part of a nationwide initiative to protect authors’ rights.

“What we have done is part of the commissions mandate to protect and promote the rights of authors and other genuine investors in the copyright book industry,” he stated.

He reaffirmed that the NCC is committed to “eliminating the sale of pirated works and to establish a robust copyright framework in Nigeria”.

Asein emphasized that authors deserve to benefit from their creative work and not run into financial losses because of piracy.

“It is our duty to ensure that authors get rewards for their creative work. I have under my watch, zero tolerance for piracy and infringement of Copyright Laws,” Asein said.

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Strike: Academic Activities Remain Grounded As NASU, FG Clash Over Half Salary Payment

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While the Federal Government and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) continue to engage in discussions to end the ongoing strike, academic activities in the country have remained grounded leaving students in frustration.

Investors King in an earlier report detailed that the academic bodies directed its members to commence a nationwide indefinite strike from Monday over the nonpayment of four months withheld salaries.

The leaders of the two unions announced that the strike would start on Sunday, October 27, 2024.

JAC, in a circular to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU in the universities and inter-university centres, with the title: ‘Latest development in respect of the withheld four (4) months salaries’, and signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, explained that the timing of the action was for effective co-ordination and for both unions to be on the same page.

After discussions with the unions, the FG through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Saturday authorized a partial payment to the bodies and urged them to shelve the strike.

Reacting to this, JAC kicked against the FG’s approval of only one month out of the four months of withheld salaries.

The union officials, including SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, stated that the one-month salary is insufficient to meet their demands.

“Yes, they paid one month out of four months. We shall be meeting to appraise the situation, but not everyone has received their pay so far,” Ibrahim said.

The unions declared that the nationwide strike would continue until all demands are met and all withheld salaries paid.

JAC revealed that over 98 percent of union members across the country have complied with the strike.

Revealing the next step, Ibrahim said, “We plan to convene soon to determine further steps, and reaffirm our stance to remain on strike until the government fully addresses the salary backlog.”

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Atiku, Sheu Sani, SERAP, Amnesty International, Others Kick As FG Arraigns Minors For Joining #EndBadGovernance Protests

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Condemnations have trailed the arraignment of some distressed minors alongside adults who protested against bad governance and hunger in Nigeria.

The Federal Government dragged the peaceful protesters of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance including 32 minors before an Abuja Federal High Court on Friday.

However, there was panic within the courtroom when some of the minors collapsed during the arraignment.

The minors were arraigned for alleged treason by participating in August’s 10 days nationwide protests against hunger and bad governance.

It was gathered that the minors, who have been held by the Nigeria Police Force since August, were deprived of adequate care while in detention.

The incident occurred as they were being transported from various police detention cells, including those from the Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

No sooner than they arrived court premises that couple of the young lads lost consciousness inside the courtroom.

Sources claimed that they fainted due to maltreatment and lack of sufficient food for the days they were detained. They further alleged that authorities are using hunger as a form of torture against the young protesters for merely exercising their constitutional rights.

Photos and videos from the courtroom depicted the distressing scene, showing some teenagers writhing on the floor while others attempted to assist them.

One lawyer was captured trying to resuscitate a protester who collapsed in the dock.

The detention of the minors and other protesters was mandated by Justice Emeka Nwite, who approved an ex-parte application from the police to keep the minors in custody for 60 days as part of their investigation into the protests, which were aimed at addressing worsening insecurity and hardship attributed to President Bola Tinubu’s policies.

Condemning their arraignment and treatment, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, lambasted the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government over the illegal detention of malnourished minors.

Reacting to videos of the collapsed minors, Atiku, the former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, said that Tinubu’s wickedness could not allow him to spare children who were protesting against his “harsh and draconian” policies in the country.

Atiku in a post on X said that the horrible scene of the collapsed malnourished minors in court is reminiscent of a Nazi concentration camp, which is a reflection of the low premium Tinubu-led government places on the lives of the vulnerable, especially children.

The former Vice President noted that it is reprehensible that President Tinubu who claims to have fought for Nigeria’s democracy and had led protests now demonises those who decide to demonstrate against the effects of his harsh and draconian policies.

Similarly, Shehu Sani, a former federal lawmaker from Kaduna State, expressed deep concerns over the detention of minors involved in the #EndBadGovernance protests.

Sani in a tweet on Friday questioned the justification behind their prolonged detention, saying there is no justification for the incarceration of the poor children.

He appealed to the Federal Government to set them free.

Also expressing outrage over the development, the Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP) called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained #EndBadGovernance protesters in prison and dropping of charges against them.

In a post on X handle, SERAP demanded that President Tinubu’s administration must promptly investigate the apparent ill-treatment of #EndBadGovernance protesters in prison and prosecute those responsible.

In the same vein, Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, strongly condemned President Tinubu’s government for prosecuting minors who allegedly participated in the #EndBadGovernance protests.

Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, criticized the government for its “shameless” treatment of these malnourished minors, who he believes deserve access to free education and healthcare, rather than being put on trial for treason.

Joining in the condemnation, Amnesty International wondered the rationale behind the prosecution of children who demanded good governance, calling for their immediate release.

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