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European Commission approval a mMajor Step for Pending Aon and Willis Towers Watson Combination

“This is a major step that demonstrates continued progress toward obtaining regulatory clearances for the proposed combination. Both firms operate across broad, competitive areas of the economy and believe this approval affirms that our proposed combination will accelerate innovation on behalf of clients, creating more choice in an already dynamic and competitive marketplace,” said a statement issued jointly by both the firms

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Asia-Pacific Climate week 2021 sends strong signal to COP26

The Asia-Pacific regions emits more than half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the most rapidly developing regions of the world, with a significant proportion of the global population. And it is home to most of the world’s low-lying cities and vulnerable small island states.

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IMF approves $650 billion expansion in resources to fight pandemic

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Friday that the new support, the largest such expansion in the history of the 190-nation lending institution, would be a shot in the arm for the world.
Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious-affiliated development group Jubilee USA Network, said that the IMF action would allow developing countries to immediately receive more than USD200 billion in support.

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Shipping chaos kills 1,800 cows, fueling health risks

When it comes to animal welfare, transport by sea is a big black hole,” said Thomas Waitz, an organic farmer from Austria who is a European parliamentary representative on a committee charged with updating the rules for the cross-border shipping of animals. “Ship transports completely fall outside of any regulations or animal-welfare standards. Public health is at risk if animals are transported in conditions where germs and bacteria can flourish.”

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Paris climate targets not possible without a carbon removal industry the size of oil & gas: Swiss Re study

Christoph Nabholz, Chief Research Officer at Swiss Re Institute, “Carbon removal will need to evolve into a multi-trillion-dollar industry akin to the value of the oil and gas industry today if we are to hit the climate targets set out by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Serious investment in this nascent industry must start now. Failing to tackle climate change could result in global GDP loss of 18%, which we showed earlier this year. No action is not an option.”

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Covid-19:No fans at Olympics, making Games a TV event

“The infections are in their expansion phase and everyone in this country must firmly understand the seriousness of it,” Dr Shigeru Omi, a top government medical adviser, said.
The Olympics are pushing ahead against most medical advice, partially because the postponement stalled the IOC’s income flow. It gets almost 75 per cent of its income from selling broadcast rights, and estimates suggest it would lose USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion if the Olympics were cancelled.

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ECB tweaks inflation target, carves out climate role

In perhaps the biggest change, the central bank said it will do more to help the fight against climate change and will include climate change considerations in monetary policy operations in the areas of disclosure, risk assessment, collateral framework and corporate sector asset purchases.

“The ECB will adjust the framework guiding the allocation of corporate bond purchases to incorporate climate change criteria, in line with its mandate,” it said.

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EU fines German car makers $1B over emission collusion

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said that even though the companies had the technology to cut harmful emissions beyond legal limits, they resisted competition and denied consumers the chance to buy less polluting cars.

”Manufacturers deliberately avoided to compete on cleaning better than what was required by EU emission standards. And they did so despite the relevant technology being available,” Vestager said. That made their practice illegal, she said.

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