News
Investment in renewable energy increases ten-fold
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell says clean energy investment has increased tenfold since the Paris Agreement, a significant achievement attributed to the multilateral system. This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday. He, therefore, called for increased momentum in the energy transition, calling the current decade one for “delivery, acceleration, and implementation” to realise the benefits of clean energy and climate action on a global scale. Mr Stiell made the declaration during his speech at the New York Climate Week in New York, a flagship event hosted by Mission 2025. The event is focused on the rise of the new economy, and launching the new inside COP30 in Brazil to be held in November. Mr Stiell, who said the clean energy transition hit two trillion dollars in 2024 alone, however, stated that the boom was uneven as its vast benefits were not shared by all.
“Climate disasters are hitting every economy and society harder each year. So we need to step it up fast. The good news is we’re not waiting for miracles. The economics are on our side. Today, over 90 per cent of new renewables cost less than the cheapest new fossil option. The technologies and solutions already exist. Also clean power, electrification, efficiency and storage, resilience-building and the toolkit are being put to work. But to ramp up implementation, we need that toolkit in every nation’s hands,“ he said. He said the Paris-alignment would be from country by country, sector by sector, across every stream of finance by using the next global stock taken as the timeline to get there. The executive secretary said the world ought to harness the force-multipliers to succeed in the faster, changing world. “By taking industrial transformation: clean industry underpins stronger economies, more resilient supply chains, lower costs and lower emissions. Yet $1.6 trillion worth of projects remain idle. That is wasted potential. In the next five years we can unleash huge progress – powered by innovators and entrepreneurs, enabled by Paris-aligned governments, creating millions of good jobs.
“That is why I fully support Build Clean Now – a global initiative to fast-track clean industry shifts, led by the industrial transition accelerator, being launched later this afternoon,“ he said He said AI had started a ready-made solution and carried risks which could, however, also be a game-changer. “I echo the Secretary-General: if you run a major AI platform, power it with renewables, and innovate to drive energy efficiency. Jobs and livelihoods must be protected. Done properly, AI releases human capacity, not replaces it. That is our approach in the Secretariat, as we explore how AI can improve our own work. Most important is its power to drive real-world outcomes: managing micro grids, mapping climate risk, guiding resilient planning. This is just the beginning,” he said. He suggested striving towards faster, fully-inclusive, higher-quality decisions that tie the formal process ever-closer to real economies and real lives. Mr Stiell said he had asked senior experts to examine UN Climate Change on how the present process could be improved, within the mandates from Parties.
“Later this year I’ll receive their ideas. Any we wish to pursue, we will consult on them in 2026, foremost with parties who ultimately own this process. We should also never lose sight of how far we’ve come. Imperfect, yes – but recent COPs have delivered concrete results and global steps forward. “Without UN climate cooperation, we were heading for five degrees of heating – an impossible future. Today we are closer to three. Still too high – but bending the curve,” he said. He said it would be discovered later in the year how much closer the following round of plans got us to 1.5. Mr Stiell added that a status report on adaptation efforts would be released with an initial picture of implementation from transparency reports. “The roadmap to 1.3 trillion is also expected from the COP29 and COP30 presidencies before COP. We must be clear-eyed in recognising what all this data tells us, both the risks and the opportunities.
“And then it’s all eyes on COP30. It must respond to the state of the NDCs, to the roadmap to $1.3 trillion annually of accessible finance, deployable at speed and scale, to progress made and where acceleration is most needed. “It must show climate multilateralism continues to deliver: with strong outcomes across all negotiations and spur faster and wider implementation, across all sectors and economies, especially those not yet pricing in climate risks and opportunities,” he explained.
According to him, no country should be left behind as delivering in tackling climate change is expected for the most vulnerable in all regions, especially emerging and developing countries. He also mentioned that bold climate action means better jobs, higher living standards, cleaner air, healthier lives, secure food, affordable energy and transport. “This is the story of the new economy rising, and this COP30 podcast series by outrage and optimism, is a great chance to tell it to more people around the world.
“Friends, let’s also recognise that the world’s climate story doesn’t begin or end at COP30. Every COP builds on the last. That is how we forge progress and deliver results. Every COP has its challenges. And there are always naysayers. But they are only the story if we make them the story,” he said. Mr Stiell, who said that the world was still firm behind Paris and fully on-board for climate cooperation, added that the work would be faster together. “Not only at COP, but here in New York, at the G20, at Pre-COP, and in every forum. So let’s keep it up, and let’s step it up. Humanity cannot afford to let it stumble. Let’s recognise, reaffirm, and respond. This is the pathway to, though, and beyond Belém,” he added.
(NAN)
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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