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Added on the 18/01/2022 17:43:39 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
A hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organization warns. "WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone. At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly," the UN health body's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says during a virtual press conference in Geneva. IMAGES
Washington, Apr 27 (EFE).- Green bonds are a financial instrument that has great potential for Latin America and the Caribbean as the region faces enormous financing needs to adapt to climate change, which makes it essential to improve transparency to attract investors, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said Tuesday.The bank and its private-sector arm, IDB Invest, launched the Green Bond Transparency Platform to promote the harmonization and standardization of green bonds by providing information on their performance, impact and methodologies in the region."Investors need to know if these bonds are having an impact on the fight against climate change," Juan Antonio Ketterer, Head of the IDB's Connectivity, Markets and Finance Division, said during the online presentation of the new digital tool.Latin America and the Caribbean made up only 2 percent of last year's record $1.1 trillion issuance of green bonds worldwide.Yet the region has seen a total issuance of $24 billion and nearly half of that, $10 billion, has come since 2019."What transparency creates is a space to build confidence," Sean Kidney, CEO at Climate Bonds Initiative, a partner organization, said.Kidney said that green bonds are "a very simple idea, a debt instrument where you are promising that the proceeds will be used in a certain way," making initiatives such as the IDB platform important for giving investors peace of mind.The IDB Group has provided strong support to the region's green capital market over the last five years, backing more than 30 percent of issuances by volume, notably for Ecuador, Chile and Mexico.The crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing threat of climate change have increased investor appetite for this type of financial tool, which likewise offer an alternative to the difficult situation in public finance.The region's "governments are facing extraordinary fiscal headwinds and they can't possibly finance this transition on their own," IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone said.Recent estimates suggest that emerging markets will need $20 trillion in investment by 2030 to address climate change challenges, of which governments will only be able to contribute 25 percent.Claver-Carone said that large global investment funds with ample capital are "eager" to participate."In the next five years, governments will have a historic opportunity to attract these investments if they provide the right incentives and clear rules. Trillions of dollars of private capital could flow into their countries to create jobs," the IDB president said. EFE lap/drSHOT LIST: SOUND BITES OF IDB PRESIDENT MAURICIO CLAVER-CARONE; IDB HEAD OF CONNECTIVITY, MARKETS AND FINANCE DIVISION JUAN ANTONIO KETTERER; CLIMATE BONDS INITIATIVE CEO SEAN KIDNEY; IDB INVEST CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER GEMA SACRISTAN; IDB CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JUAN PAUL BONILLA; AND IDB INSTITUTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER MOISES SCHWARTZ.Keywords: efe,idb,green,bonds,transparency,platform
The COVID-19 pandemic could provoke the deepest recession in living memory, World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo warns. "As we face what may well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes, we should aim to make the most of all potential drivers of sustainable growth to reverse this situation," he says during a virtual news conference in Geneva. SOUNDBITE
The new coronavirus outbreak can now be characterised as a pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization says. SOUNDBITE
The new coronavirus pandemic is clearly "accelerating", the World Health Organization warns. IMAGES
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the Covid-19 pandemic will be over when "the world chooses to end it", adding "we have all the tools we need, but the world has not used those tools well". SOUNDBITE
The WHO's chief says that all hypotheses on the Covid-19 pandemic's origins remain "on the table" and need "further study", having read the report from international experts' mission to Wuhan. SOUNDBITE
Earlier in 2020 there was a massive COVID outbreak in the White House. Now, the Washington Post reports the outbreak could have been prevented. The Washington Post reports that Mark Meadows deliberately tried to hide the White House coronavirus outbreak from the public. Business Insider says the chief of staff instructed at least one fellow advisor to cover up the diagnosis. The same official revealed Meadows told them that they were "under no obligation" to reveal any COVID cases in the White House.
An ardent supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has contracted the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Gaetz was recently re-elected to his third term in the US House of Representatives. Business Insider reports the conservative congressman from Florida's panhandle region was initially skeptical of the virus. In what Democrats slammed as making light of the highly contagious disease, Gaetz wore a gas mask on the House floor. Gaetz is not alone. On Friday, President Trump's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, also announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.
President Donald Trump's fourth Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, is not winning any popularity contests among the president's aides. In a jaw-dropping exchange Sunday with CNN's Jake Tapper, Meadows said bluntly, 'We are not going to control the pandemic.' A Trump campaign adviser said there is widespread frustration over Meadows' comments, as well as his leadership more broadly. Sources say Trump remains displeased with how Meadows handled the crisis surrounding his own bout with coronavirus. Early in the crisis, Meadows came to view the White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, as largely irrelevant. He has not intervened as Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist with no experience in public health, undermines health experts and poo-poos mask-wearing. Besides downplaying the pandemic, Meadows has encouraged Trump to carry on his large-scale rallies, despite a nationwide surge in cases.
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