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By many accounts, Thailand consistently ranks among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The oft-cited Global Climate Risk Index by GermanWatch ranked Thailand's long-term climate risk in 2021 as 9th in the world. Thailand is one of the 10 most flood-affected countries in the world, and the risks it faces are expected to increase. In Thailand, "the number of people affected by an extreme river flood could grow by over 2 million by 2035–2044, and coastal flooding could affect a further 2.4 million people by 2070–2100", according to the 2021 climate risk country profile, published by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Climate change not only threatens all key sectors of Thailand's economy, but its critical infrastructure in many areas is highly exposed to worsening climate scenarios, particularly the risks of heat stress, more intense and frequent floods, and land subsidence. As one of the world's most unequal countries in terms of income and wealth equality, what is more worrisome is that vulnerable groups in Thailand are likely to be the most disproportionately affected by climate change. Rural communities still dependent on agriculture and already saddled with high debt will face increased risks of crop damage and lower yields from floods and/or droughts, low-income urban residents face increased risk of property damage and loss of livelihoods from floods, and low-pay workers who work outdoors face increased risk of health hazards from higher temperatures. These potential climate impacts have clear implications on the health and wellbeing of the populace, and the income inequality and economic competitiveness of the country means that Thailand needs significant financing for climate adaptation. Such "adaptation finance" should be considered worthwhile investments, not expenses, since its purpose is to help avoid or reduce climate change's social and economic impacts. Financing this adaptation to climate change is complex because successful activities are highly context-specific -- financing better disaster preparedness requires a different approach from financing climate-smart agriculture, for example. However, we can estimate the overall scale of adaptation financing needed by looking at potential losses and damages from climate change. In 2021, for example, the Climate Economics Index of insurance giant Swiss Re estimates that Thailand's cumulative losses from climate change could amount to 19.5% of GDP by 2050, up from the 2018 level, if the world's average temperature rises 2C, and 42.6% of GDP under a 3.2C rise. Given Thailand's 2018 GDP of US$507 billion (17 trillion baht), the 19.5% cumulative loss estimate under the 2C rise scenario translates to $99 billion between 2018-2050. Adaptation investment totalling less than this amount is, therefore, worth making if it can help avoid such losses. Given the volatility and uncertainties inherent in climate risks, a precise calculation may be impossible, but this kind of ballpark estimate is still helpful in gauging the size of adaptation finance that would be needed. The amount of climate adaptation finance in Thailand remains minuscule compared to the financing needs. For an ongoing research project, our research team at Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT) compiled publicly disclosed data from different sources of funds and found that the total financing in Thailand that went into climate adaptation activities between 2018-2024 amounted to only 14 billion baht, most of which was spent by the government in various conservation projects (which helps reduce climate change impacts on ecosystems), promoting climate-smart rice farming with support from the Green Climate Fund, flood diversion canals, and disaster risk reduction programmes. Thailand is not alone in facing a significant financing gap between climate adaptation needs and actual investments. The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates the current adaptation finance gap worldwide at $194-366 billion per year. The report suggests several ways to increase adaptation financing, including "domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance. Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to small and medium enterprises, and reforming the global financial architecture. The new Loss and Damage fund will also need to move towards more innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment." Meanwhile, in September, the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, or "the Lab" in short, launched a report titled "A Decade of Climate Finance Innovation: Impact Lessons from the Lab". The Lab was founded in 2014 by the UK, German, and US governments as a global public-private initiative to "identify, design, and support the piloting of new climate finance instruments with the aim of unlocking billions of dollars of fresh private investment for climate change mitigation and adaption in developing countries". Members of the Lab include leaders from governments, pension funds, investment banks, project developers, and development finance institutions. During its first decade, the Lab's portfolio of climate finance solutions has mobilised over $4 billion through 78 innovative financing instruments in emerging markets around the world, including $1.6 billion from the private sector. I believe the Lab's success stories in spurring private investment in climate adaptation are highly instructive and applicable for Thailand. Thailand needs the private sector to engage in climate financing. Despite the country's well-developed and sophisticated private sector, financial markets, and financial institutions, the involvement of the private sector and private financial institutions in adaptation financing has been nearly nonexistent. I pick three of these strategies depicted in The Lab's report and rank them in the order of urgency that I believe suits Thailand's context. 1. Capacity-building reduces pipeline risk and creates investment incentives. Many promising climate adaptation projects in Thailand are conceived and run by government officials, civil society and philanthropic organisations or local community members. They, or people who assist them with access to finance, need more technical skills to create and maintain monitoring systems to measure and report climate adaptation outcomes. They also need certain financial know-how to secure loans and manage climate adaptation finances. Funders, especially grant-based, should provide technical assistance for the entire duration, ranging from initial planning to ensuring that projects can be operated and monitored in the long run. Access to credible and actionable climate risk data, particularly water stress maps and heat stress maps under different climate scenarios, is among the first steps that are necessary to incentivise private investment in climate adaptation since companies will be spurred to action if they see more clearly how climate change will likely affect their business. Therefore, technical assistance and investments in the gathering, analysis, and distribution of climate risk data should also form an integral part of climate finance capacity building in Thailand. 2. Blended finance mitigates risks and unlocks private capital. Many risks, such as political instability and revenue risks, are common barriers to private investment in developing countries, including Thailand. The growing field of structuring "blended finance", or using public and philanthropic funds to mobilise private capital, helps alleviate the concerns of private investors and allows different types of investors with different risk appetites to work together for a common goal. There should be many opportunities for structuring blended finance for climate adaptation in Thailand, given the well-developed financial markets and financial intermediaries, a small but growing number of impact investors, the need for a more cost-effective deployment of the government budget, especially in response to climate-related disasters, and the clear climate-adaptation needs. 3. Aggregated portfolios better meet the needs of larger private investors. Small projects often find it difficult to attract larger investors due to high transaction costs and low per-transaction returns. Bundling several projects into a single investment package can make them more attractive and achieve the necessary economies of scale for larger investors. In India, the Lab-supported Sustainable Energy Bonds (SEBs) bundled small loans for rooftop solar and energy efficiency retrofits to spread their fixed costs and create an appealing value proposition for debt investors. CFNT explored a similar concept in our research report, "Here Comes Everybody: Boosting Residential Solar Financing with Crowdfunding Models in Thailand", which was launched in October. Sarinee Achavanuntakul is Head of Research at Fair Finance Thailand and Director of Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT).real money casino app download free 。

Caitlin Clark honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year following her impact on women's sports Caitlin Clark has been named the AP Female Athlete of the Year after raising the profile of women’s basketball to unprecedented levels in both college and the WNBA. She led Iowa to the national championship game, was the top pick in the WNBA draft and captured rookie of the year honors in the league. Fans packed sold-out arenas and millions of television viewers followed her journey on and off the court. Clark's exploits also put other women's sports leagues in the spotlight. A group of 74 sports journalists from AP and its members voted on the award. Other athletes who received votes included Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and boxer Imane Khelif. Clark’s only the fourth women’s basketball player to win the award since it was first given in 1931. Wemby at The Garden. LeBron vs. Steph. The NBA's Christmas Day lineup, as always, has star power LeBron James made his Christmas debut in 2003. Victor Wembanyama was born 10 days later. That’s right: James has been featured on the NBA’s big day for longer than Wembanyama has been alive. And on Wednesday the league’s oldest player and brightest young star will be big parts of the holiday showcase. It’s another Christmas quintupleheader, with Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs visiting the New York Knicks, Minnesota going to Dallas for a Western Conference finals rematch, Philadelphia heading to Boston to renew a storied rivalry, James and the Los Angeles Lakers taking on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, and Denver playing at Phoenix. Pro Picks: Chiefs will beat the Steelers and Ravens will edge the Texans on Christmas Day Playoff berths, draft positioning and more are up for grabs in Week 17. There’s going to be plenty of football on television this holiday week with the NFL playing games on five out of six days, starting with a doubleheader on Christmas Day featuring four of the AFC’s top five teams. Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs visit Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday. Then, two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens take on C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. The Bears host the Seahawks on Thursday night and there are three games on Saturday, making Sunday’s schedule light at nine games. Falcons drafting Penix no longer a head-scratcher with rookie QB shining in place of benched Cousins It was the most surprising first-round pick in a long time when the Atlanta Falcons chose Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall selection in the NFL draft last April. That came just six weeks after the Falcons had signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million in guarantees. But that move is no longer a head-scratcher after Penix's solid starting debut in place of a benched and turnover-prone Cousins. Several teams have fared well with new quarterbacks this season including the Steelers, Broncos, Vikings and Commanders. Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could start a trend in skiing. And pro sports in general ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could be the start of a trend in ski racing. The 40-year-old American standout had replacement surgery in April and returned to the World Cup circuit after nearly six years last weekend. She says her knee feels “amazing" and that "it’s something to seriously consider for athletes that have a lot of knee problems.” Her surgery was the first of its kind in World Cup skiing. Vonn had a robot-assisted surgery in April with part of the bone in her right knee cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces. She was planning her comeback a month later. Boise State's legacy includes winning coaches and championship moments No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for its third trip to the Fiesta Bowl. This time it's in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year’s Eve. Boise State's first appearance on the national stage was in a memorable victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007. But former coach Chris Petersen said the victory in that bowl three years later over TCU was even more meaningful for the program. Players have mixed feelings about being on the road on Christmas as NFL adds more holiday games OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Games on Christmas aren’t new to the NFL. The Miami Dolphins famously beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a playoff game on Dec. 25, 1971 — a double-overtime classic that still holds the record for the NFL’s longest game. In 2020, New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara tied an NFL record with six touchdowns in a game when the Saints beat Minnesota on Christmas. Lately the league has been much more aggressive about scheduling games on Christmas. That's been met with mixed feelings among the players. Baltimore tackle Ronnie Stanley says there is an offensive line Christmas party planned for Friday at center Tyler Linderbaum’s house. Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s plan is to celebrate on Thursday. Embiid ejected after drawing 2 technicals in game against Wembanyama and Spurs PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was ejected in the first half of Monday night’s game against San Antonio after drawing two technical fouls. Referee Jenna Schroeder ejected Embiid with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the second quarter. The seven-time All-Star received the first technical for arguing with Schroeder, and received another technical — and ejection — from Schroeder before any more game time elapsed. Embiid was close to Schroeder, but it wasn’t clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. An enraged Embiid charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, head coach Nick Nurse and several assistants. Nikki Glaser uses Prime Video's NFL postgame show appearances to help prepare for Golden Globes INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Nikki Glaser has become a familiar face to football fans this season. Her breakthrough performance at the Tom Brady Roast on May 5 paved the way for five appearances on Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” postgame show. Glaser said before last Thursday’s game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers that doing her “Late Hits” segment was a no-brainer following her success at the Brady roast. Leaving Thunder, Bucks off the NBA's Christmas game list has those teams feeling snubbed Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference and has a MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Milwaukee has the NBA’s leading scorer in Giannis Antetokounmpo. They were the teams that made their way to the NBA Cup final. By any measure, they’re both very good teams. And neither will play on Christmas Day this year. Bah, humbug. The NBA faces the same challenge every summer, figuring out which 10 teams will get the honor of playing on Christmas Day. But the Bucks and Thunder are right to feel snubbed.

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Middle East latest: Syrians celebrate Assad's fall as US seeks a peaceful political transitionMAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Violence that engulfed Mozambique after the country’s highest court confirmed ruling Frelimo party presidential candidate Daniel Chapo as the winner of disputed Oct. 9 elections killed at least 21 people, including two police officers, authorities said Tuesday. Mozambique Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda told a news conference in Maputo late Tuesday that a wave of violence and looting was sparked by the court’s announcement a day earlier. He said it was led by mostly youthful supporters of losing candidate Venancio Mondlane, who received 24% of the vote, second to Chapo, who got 65%. “From the preliminary survey, in the last 24 hours, 236 acts of violence were recorded throughout the national territory that resulted in 21 deaths, of which two members of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique also died,” Ronda said. He said 13 civilians and 12 police were injured. Ronda said 25 vehicles were set on fire, including two police vehicles. He added that 11 police subunits and a penitentiary were attacked and vandalized and 86 inmates were freed. Tensions were high in the country ahead of the The Constitutional Council ruling on Monday and violent protests started immediately after the announcement was made. RELATED COVERAGE Mozambique court upholds the governing party’s presidential election victory as protests flare again At least 110 people have died in 7 weeks of post-election protests in Mozambique, rights groups say 10 children killed by security forces in Mozambique’s election protests, Human Rights Watch says Footage circulating on various social media platforms showed protesters burning and looting shops in the capital Maputo and the city of Beira, where some city officials were reported to have fled the city. Mondlane has called for a “shutdown” starting Friday but violence in the country has already escalated and the situation remained tense in the capital on Tuesday night following a day of violence and looting by protesters. The country of 34 million people has been on edge since the Oct. 9 general elections . Mondlane’s supporters, mostly hundreds of thousands of young people, have since taken to the streets, and have been met by gunfire from security forces. This brings to more than 150 the number of people who have died from post-election violence since the initial results were announced by the country’s electoral body.

Longtime Wahoo boys basketball coach Kevin Scheef resignsWall Street analysts rerated Salesforce, Inc CRM after it announced that a second generation of its Agentforce technology, capable of tackling questions in Salesforce’s Slack communications app, will be available in February 2025. The company also announced plans to hire 2,000 artificial intelligence-focused salespeople. Needham analyst Scott Berg maintained Salesforce with a Buy and a $375 price target. BofA Securities analyst Brad Sills reiterated a Buy on Salesforce with a price target of $440. Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan maintained a Buy rating on Salesforce with a price target of $400. Truist analyst Terry Tillman reiterated a Buy rating on Salesforce with a price target of $400. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained Salesforce with an Outperform and a $425 price target. Also Read: McCormick Eyes $1 Billion Deal To Acquire Duke’s Mayonnaise Maker Needham: Berg virtually attended Salesforce’s Agentforce 2.0 release, coming away optimistic regarding updated Agentforce deal metrics (1000+ deals closed versus 200+ as of third-quarter) along with the expanded capabilities of the new platform. Compared to version 1.0, which focuses on Sales and Service-oriented support, 2.0 looks to help internal processes and enterprise information gathering by leveraging Slack as the central Agent “hub” to pull information together across enterprise platforms. Agentforce 2.0 highlights the Halo effect with Mulesoft and Data Cloud even more than Gen 1. Enhancements to the Atlas Reasoning Engine will further expand usage into more complex use cases. With an estimated TAM expansion of over $740 billion through AI spending, Agentforce seems poised to drive incremental top-line growth, which Berg noted as more tilted toward fiscal 2027. Berg projected fourth-quarter revenue of $10.04 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.60. BofA Securities: Sills attended Salesforce’s Agentforce 2.0 launch virtually on Tuesday. The analyst is encouraged by the platform’s progress, which is now embedded into sales, marketing, Slack, and others. Also, the company is expanding the scope of Agentforce to integrate data for workflow across key third-party applications. Finally, Agentforce 2.0 bolsters the AI platform with enhanced reasoning via the Atlas engine. Sills remains bullish on the agent opportunity for Salesforce in fiscal 2026 and the longer term. The analyst estimates Agentforce could provide incremental 1%-2% points of revenue growth in fiscal 2026 and 2027 each. The stock remains his top pick. Goldman Sachs: Rangan rerated on the back of Salesforce’s Agentforce 2.0 event, which continues to amplify the company’s technical leadership. The analyst returned incrementally positive on Salesforce’s execution of its Gen-AI product roadmap with the development of enhanced capabilities within months of Agentforce’s release in September and delivery of quick-to-value productivity benefits. With Agentforce 2.0 seamlessly connecting workflows with a knowledge graph across the entire product suite, Rangan noted Salesforce further solidifying its value proposition beyond a traditional tool. With over 1,000 Agentforce deals closed and thousands more in the pipeline, Rangan highlighted early proof points supporting Salesforce’s product-market fit and long-term growth durability. These deals indicate that Salesforce is well-positioned to capture a share in the growing digital labor market as the proliferation of Gen-AI augments human capacity. While this might take time to drive meaningful revenue contribution, Rangan noted near-term tailwinds stemming from macro improvement, IT budget unlock as AI spending moves into the application layer, Data Cloud’s added contribution as it approaches ~$1 billion, and cyclical improvements in Marketing and Commerce Cloud. Truist: Tillman virtually attended Salesforce’s Agentforce 2.0 unveiling event. Along with several product roadmap updates, the company has disclosed closing 1,000 paid Agentforce deals. Recall that Salesforce signed 200 Agentforce deals in the third quarter of 2025, which Tillman noted was approximately quadruple the company’s initial expectations. Other highlights included notable internal efficiency stats with Agentforce, currently available Agent skills updates, and a fulsome roadmap, including several critical upcoming updates to Salesforce’s Atlas Reasoning Engine. Tillman noted that the company maintains an improved pace of innovation with Agentforce capabilities and anticipates major releases through the calendar of 2025, including Agentforce 3.0 in May. Tillman noted that the premium on revenue versus peers is well justified given that the company offers an attractive balance of growth at scale and expanding profitability and cash flow, all with multiple capital allocation avenues setting the stage for consistent long-term shareholder returns. Also, the potential for growth acceleration while continuing to expand margins bodes well for potential upside and higher valuation implications Wedbush: The company’s agents are built to handle routine use cases so humans can focus on handling difficult situations with significantly higher resolution on sales and services issues, with ~5k conversations being passed to humans out of ~32k conversations per week. With the AI Revolution entering the software phase heading into 2025, Salesforce is well positioned to capture its fair share of market expansion as the AI monetization phase will catalyze Salesforce’s development over the next 12 to 18 months with a $7 trillion digital labor market opportunity on the horizon for Salesforce. Ives noted Salesforce is a clear second derivative beneficiary of the AI Revolution that could add ~$80 per share to the Salesforce story as this monetization story takes shape over the next 12 to 18 months with CEO Marc Benioff leading the charge and this new era of AI growth. Ives projected fourth-quarter revenue of $10.01 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.60. Price Action: CRM stock traded higher by 0.23% to $351.77 at the last check on Wednesday. Also Read: Walmart Teams Up With China’s Meituan to Boost E-Commerce Image via Shutterstock. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. 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