BAKU: A group of conflict-affected countries led by Iraq and Yemen is pushing at the COP29 climate talks to double financial aid to more than $20 billion a year to combat the natural disaster and security crises they face.
States mired in conflict or its aftermath have struggled to access private investment, because they are seen as too risky. That means UN funds are even more critical to their people, many of whom have been displaced by war and weather.
In response, the COP29 Azerbaijan presidency on Friday launched launch a new “Network of Climate-vulnerable Countries,” including Iraq, Yemen, Burundi, Chad, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Timor-Leste. They all belong to the g7+, an intergovernmental group of fragile countries that first sent the appeal.
The network aims to advocate as a group with climate finance institutions, build capacity in member states so they can absorb more finance, and create country platforms so investors can more easily find high-impact projects in which to invest, said think tank ODI Global, which helped the countries create the network.
“My hope is it will create a real platform for the countries in need,” said Abdullahi Khalif, chief climate negotiator for Somalia.
Yemen and Iraq lead call for more crisis finance
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Yemen and Iraq lead call for more crisis finance
Economies must turn AI tokens into growth, says Microsoft CEO
- AI tokens are basic units of text read and generated by artificial intelligence models when processing language
DUBAI: Global economies will need to transform AI tokens into economic growth, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
GDP growth anywhere will be directly correlated with the accessibility of power and resources such as AI tokens, said Satya, adding: “We have a new commodity which is tokens, and the job of every economy is to translate tokens into economic growth. If we have cheaper commodities, it’s better.”
AI tokens are basic units of text read and generated by artificial intelligence models when processing language.
Satya also discussed the importance of diffusing AI technology and implementing it globally.
“Our job is to pioneer the relationship between AI and people so that productivity can increase. The scale of operations can really be increased by utilizing this technology,” he said.
“On the supply side, the ratio of tokens per dollar per watt has to get better. We have to ensure that the supply is there from the chips to the token factory. It's like electricity. We need a ubiquitous grid of energy and tokens that will power the economy.”
On the consumer side, Satya urged all firms to start using it and said both small- and large-scale operations would face different challenges.
“If you start fresh it’s easier to implement these tools, for large organizations there is a fundamental challenge to achieve scale in implementing the change. The change management challenge for large organizations is bigger,” he said.
He added this technology has the ability and demand to be implemented globally.
“We have the ability to deliver tokens all around the world, this will ensure even distribution of resources. The technology is in our hands to create opportunity in the Global South and beyond. As long as there is a demand and an environment to create capital investment, then it's worth it,” he said.
