Deloitte research reveals inaction on climate change could cost the world's economy US$178 trillion by 2070

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Deloitte Global 

By contrast, the global economy could gain US$43 trillion over the next five decades by rapidly accelerating the transition to net-zero

Key highlights:

• Deloitte's Global Turning Point Report finds that unchecked climate change could cost the global economy US$178 trillion over the next 50 years, unless global leaders unite in a systemic net-zero transition  
  
  
• The recently launched Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress (DCSP) will focus on holistic, data-driven analysis and results-oriented thought leadership, to guide organizations through their sustainability journeys

DAVOS, Switzerland, May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress (DCSP) released today during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting indicates that—if left unchecked—climate change could cost the global economy US$178 trillion over the next 50 years, or a 7.6% cut to global gross domestic product (GDP) in the year 2070 alone. If global warming reaches around 3°C toward the century's end, the toll on human lives could be significant—disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable and leading to loss of productivity and employment, food and water scarcity, worsening health and well-being, and ushering in an overall lower standard of living globally.

Deloitte's Global Turning Point Report is based on research conducted by the Deloitte Economics Institute. The report analyzed 15 geographies in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, and found that if global leaders unite in a systemic net-zero transition, the global economy could see new five-decade gains of US$43 trillion—a boost to global GDP of 3.8% in 2070.

"The time for debate is over. We need swift, bold and widespread action now—across all sectors," said Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen. "Will this require a significant investment from the global business community, from governments, from the non-profit sector? Yes. But inaction is a far costlier choice. The data bears that out. What we have before us is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-orient the global economy and create more sustainable, resilient, and equitable long-term growth. In my mind the question is not why we should make this investment, it's how can we not?"

Transforming the economy for a low-carbon future will require extensive coordination and global collaboration throughout industries and geographies. Governments will need to collaborate closely with the financial services and technology sectors—leading the charge on sustainable progress through global policymaking, greater investment in clean energy systems, and a new mix of green technologies across industries. According to the Deloitte Economic Institute's  research, collectively pivoting from an economy reliant on fossil fuels to an economy primarily powered by renewable energy would spur new sources of growth and job creation. Global cooperation and regulation are vital to setting the stage for a successful transformation.

"It's important that the global economy evolves to meet the challenges of climate change," said Dr. Pradeep Philip, Deloitte Economics Institute. "Our analysis shows that a low-carbon future is not only a societal imperative but an economic one. We already have the technologies, business models, and policy approaches to simultaneously combat the climate crisis and unlock significant economic growth, but we need governments, businesses, and communities globally to align on a pathway toward a net-zero future."

"In order to find new and lasting solutions to these societal challenges, we must model new forms of cooperation and pursue a multi-party, holistic approach. The Turning Point analysis lays a powerful foundation of economic benefit and growth for decision-makers, influencers and participants to work from for individual and shared prosperity," said Prof. Dr. Bernhard Lorentz, founding chair of the DCSP and Deloitte Global Consulting Sustainability & Climate Strategy leader.

The report details four key stages for decarbonization globally:

1. The public and private sectors unite, collaborating to build effective and foundational frameworks and policies to drive actionable change.
   
   
2. Business and governmental leaders make significant investment, sparking structural changes to the global economy that prioritize low-emissions industries and accelerate the transition to net-zero.
   
   
3. The world's geographies approach their respective "turning points"—when the benefits of a net-zero transition begin to outweigh the costs—and ultimately drive regional net-positive growth and value.
   
   
4. Following the turning point, society realizes a greener future—where interconnected, low-carbon systems underpin a clean economy that grows at an increasingly faster rate than its carbon-intensive alternative.

The analysis shows that no two paths to net-zero are the same. Each region will undergo its own journey based on a range of factors, such as the way governing bodies and societies are structured, exposure to climate change and overall risk profile, and marketplace strengths and capabilities. Similarly, each region will have its own unique turning point. For example, Asia Pacific is expected to see the benefits of a low-carbon transition as early as the 2020s, while Europe will not see returns on investment until the 2050s. The transition is expected to play out at varying speeds, however, if rapid action is taken, all regions are expected to achieve their turning point by 2070 and continue to reap the benefits long after.

More about the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress

The DCSP builds upon Deloitte's aspiration to address climate and sustainability challenges more broadly by acting as a convener of specialists, industry influencers, and thought leaders from around the world. The DCSP delivers actionable, data-driven, and trusted research and thought leadership that meets the urgency of this moment – when insights and collaboration for societal transformation are more important than ever before.

Notes: 

• Deloitte's Global Turning Point Report is a culmination of several regional reports examining the economic impact of climate change globally.
  
  
• Learn more about Deloitte's recently announced Sustainability & Climate practice.

Please visit Deloitte's website for more information on Deloitte's Sustainability & Climate practice and services.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited ("DTTL"), its global network of member firms, and their related entities (collectively, the "Deloitte organization"). DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") and each of its member firms and related entities are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL does not provide services to clients. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory, and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500^® and thousands of private companies. Our professionals deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society and a sustainable world. Building on its 175-plus year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 345,000 people worldwide make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com.

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US Treasury takes aim at World Bank over climate change inaction

todayuknews

The World Bank Group leadership is under fresh fire from the US administration to step up its climate change efforts, after a blunt complaint from the US Treasury about its failure to take the level of action required.

A letter to the international financial institution headed by Trump appointee David Malpass, seen by the Financial Times, says progress had been made to meet Treasury secretary Janet Yellen’s requests but there remained “specific gaps and room for increased climate ambition”.

It also urges more “forceful and constructive leadership”. A US Treasury official said that while it “appreciated” the steps taken by the World Bank to advance climate ambitions over 2021, it had “continued to make clear” its position about the the bank falling short on its climate ambition.

The US is the largest World Bank Group shareholder, and the only member nation that has a veto power over certain changes in the bank’s structure.

The bank provides loans and grants to poorer countries and is seen as critical in distributing money to the developing world to help limit global warming as those economies grow.

It has been increasingly criticised by the UN as well as climate experts for failing to align its funding activities with the ideal Paris agreement goal of keeping global warming to 1.5C since the 1800s.

The US Treasury letter to World Bank senior management includes a series of requests about avoiding the financing of fossil fuel projects, in particular to help developing countries shift away from coal.

The World Bank chose not to join the numerous countries and development banks that pledged at COP26 to end public financing for coal, oil and gas internationally this year, and the group’s climate plan does not include a deadline for phasing out direct and indirect fossil fuel financing.

The letter also asks that the institution “only support gas investments in limited circumstances” and where there are “no other credible options”.

Treasury officials have also made clear in meetings with civil society organisations that they are dissatisfied with the climate policies of multilateral development banks, and the World Bank in particular, according to a person familiar with the meetings.

In an email to several non-profit organisations, a Treasury official said the department had been “pressing [World Bank] management to be more ambitious and proactive in a number of areas” such as “exercising greater [climate] leadership” and on the transition to clean energy.

Under Malpass, the bank’s commitment to tackling climate change was criticised by UN special adviser Selwin Hart, who lambasted it at COP26 for being “an ongoing underperformer”. Former US president and climate expert Al Gore has described the bank as “missing in action”.

The financial institution pushed for the joint statement by development banks at last year’s UN COP26 climate summit to be shortened and weakened, according to people with knowledge of the talks.

The bank’s red tape has also made it difficult for developing countries to access financing related to climate change, say its critics.

The letter from the US Treasury asks the bank to “significantly increase” funds available for climate adaptation and resilience. It also requests that the bank set “clear, specific and ambitious” targets for mobilising climate sector finance.

Egypt’s finance minister recently told the FT that he believed multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, were “not providing enough support on climate change, on financing”.

“I would like to see better terms and better conditions and lower costs,” Mohamed Maait said. Conditions, such as the obligation on recipients to extensively monitor and report on the use of the money, created a substantial burden on countries with limited resources, he added.

In response to the US Treasury letter, the World Bank Group said it was “committed to helping countries meet the goals of the Paris Agreement” and had “stepped up our [climate] financing”.

“We will continue to work with client countries and international partners to support the transition to low-carbon, resilient growth, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable countries,” the group said.

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CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Bank of China, Everbright Bank fined US$2.2 million for flouting asset management rules
WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS

Sun, June 5, 2022, 

China's banking regulator imposed multimillion-yuan fines on two banks for violating rules on wealth management products, the first such penalty since they came into effect in January.

The fines were imposed on Bank of China and China Everbright Bank and their wealth management units, both of which were established by their parent companies in 2019.

The rules seek to stamp out shadow banking risks by imposing stringent requirements such as leverage limits and banning malpractices like providing investors with an implicit guarantee against losses.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Bank of China and its wholly-owned wealth management unit were fined 6.6 million yuan (US$991,000), while China Everbright Bank and its wealth unit were penalised 8.3 million yuan, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on Friday.

China Everbright Bank and its wealth unit were penalised 8.3 million yuan by the mainland's banking regulator. Photo: AFP alt=China Everbright Bank and its wealth unit were penalised 8.3 million yuan by the mainland's banking regulator. Photo: AFP

"Leading state-owned banks have rarely been subjected to such penalties as they generally have more stringent internal risk management than other commercial banks," said Chen Shujin, an analyst at Jefferies. "The fines underscore how banks are still adjusting their businesses to fully comply with the new rules."

Since details of the new rules was announced in August 2018, banks had until the end of 2021 to align themselves with the new requirements. To adhere to the changes, Chinese banks have set up dedicated wealth management subsidiaries.

The CBIRC said on Friday that the two banks and their subsidiaries had products that flouted regulatory requirements. This included exceeding a 30 per cent market cap on a single security held by all wealth products marketed by a bank and crossing a leverage limit that caps total assets to net assets at 140 per cent for open-end mutual funds.

Chinese banks continue to actively developing their wealth management business to compensate for the sluggish growth in their interest income, which has been weighed down by reducing lending rates to borrowers as banks heed Beijing's call to support the economy ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Banks still have room to grow their fee and commission income from wealth management services, analysts said.

The country's wealth management segment grew 12.1 per cent to 29 trillion yuan, servicing 81 million investors in 2021, according to a report issued by China Central Depository & Clearing.

The banks' wealth subsidiaries, meanwhile, reported a combined net profit of 24.4 billion yuan in 2021, more than double from 2020, an EY report on China's banking sector from May showed.

"With the new regulations, the new wealth management business model will also face challenges in customer onboarding, investment research capability, risk management capability and system optimisation," Kelvin Leung, EY's Greater China financial services banking and capital markets leader, said in the report.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Meet a teacher with $303,000 in student debt who says Biden's $10,000 loan-forgiveness plan 'is not even a drop in the bucket'

Ayelet Sheffey
Sun, June 5, 2022

President Joe Biden has not confirmed an amount for any student-loan forgiveness but some reports have suggested he is looking at some relief for federal borrowers making less than $150,000 a year.

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Reports have suggested Biden is considering $10,000 in student-loan relief for federal borrowers.


Cheryl told Insider that amount wouldn't make a difference to her $303,000 student-debt load.


She said she has no problem paying back what she borrowed, but the interest just keeps growing.

If it weren't for compounding interest, Cheryl — who requested her last name be withheld for privacy concerns — thinks President Joe Biden's plans to forgive $10,000 in student debt for federal borrowers might have made a difference for her.

But with $303,000 in federal student debt — and an additional $20,000 in private student loans — the president's plan just isn't enough.

"It is not even a drop in the bucket," Cheryl, 53, told Insider. "If you wanted to make a real difference, you could do away with half the interest we've accrued, but for now I'll never be able to cover the payments."

As a teacher in Massachusetts, Cheryl had to take out student loans for her bachelor's degree in English and her master's degree in education. While she said she has no problem paying back the debt she borrowed, the problem is the interest that accrued while she was in school and her loans were in forbearance. That's making it nearly impossible for her to touch her principal balance at her current income level.

Biden has not confirmed an amount for any student-loan forgiveness he might implement, but recent reports have suggested he is looking at $10,000 in relief for federal borrowers making under $150,000 a year. While that's an amount he pledged to fulfill on the campaign trail, many Democratic lawmakers and advocates had hoped he would go bigger and are disappointed he appears to be settling on an amount that would hardly make a dent in the US's $1.7 trillion student-debt load.

"At the end of the day, we have to recognize that $10,000 is not enough," Wisdom Cole, the national director of the NAACP Youth & College Division, previously told Insider. "$20,000 is not enough. $30,000 is not enough. We have to cancel a minimum of $50,000 or more. Isn't the goal to get the most amount of relief to the most borrowers?"
'I'm totally screwed' when student-loan payments restart

The Biden administration has emphasized that before student-loan payments are set to resume after August 31, it will make an announcement on broad relief. But if it's $10,000 in forgiveness, Cheryl said she will not be able to afford her federal debt bill on the income she makes right now — especially as she's getting ready to send her nephew, who she is financially supporting, to college.

"I'm totally screwed," Cheryl said. "And now I'm trying to put a kid through college and he got a good scholarship, but it doesn't pay for everything. I have no idea how I'm going to do it, I guess I'll have to get another job."

During the payment pause, Cheryl was still making around $400 monthly payments on her private student loans, and not having to make the $200 federal monthly payments under her income-driven repayment plan provided a slight financial reprieve that helped her afford other basic necessities.

"I have $200 to get gas, and groceries and everything else, and there's not much left after that," Cheryl said. "It keeps you in this nasty little loop that you can't get out of because I can't afford to pay it down and the interest keeps coming."

Although Cheryl's profession technically qualifies for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which forgives student debt for public servants after ten years of qualifying payments, she was denied due to what she said was her time spent in payment forbearance while in school.

The Education Department has announced actions to allow past payments to be counted toward forgiveness, but Cheryl is still waiting and said "the money made from teaching will never come close to what you need to borrow to become one."

How lawmakers are reacting to the potential $10,000 in relief

Biden himself has not confirmed an amount of student debt he will cancel for federal borrowers, but when he said $50,000 in relief was off the table last month, some Democratic lawmakers and advocates grew concerned. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — one of the leading voices for broad student-loan forgiveness — released data that emphasized how going bigger on relief will be much more impactful.

The data found that $50,000 in debt relief would zero out balances for 30 million, or 76%, of all federal borrowers, compared to 13 million borrowers for $10,000 in relief.

"As this analysis clearly shows, canceling student debt is a matter of racial justice and about providing relief to millions of hard-working people who invested in their education but are now drowning in debt," Warren said in a statement. "The more President Biden cancels, the more we narrow the racial-wealth gap among borrowers and the bigger the boost to Americans' economic futures. This is the right thing to do."

But Republican lawmakers are saying the exact opposite. Insider previously reported on GOP concerns that Biden is canceling student debt to win Democratic votes at the midterms, and Virginia Foxx — a top Republican on the House Committee on Education and Labor — has frequently said canceling student debt would exacerbate inflation and cost taxpayers, referring to the $150 billion cost of the pandemic pause on payments.

For Cheryl, the issue is simple — she wants to pay back what she borrowed, and nothing more.

"I don't mind paying back the money I borrowed," Cheryl said. "But I do mind the government making their money off my back."

Azzi: The patriarchy's worst fear – women who think and compete

Robert Azzi,
Portsmouth Herald
Sun, June 5, 2022, 

“In the nineteenth century," Adrienne Rich wrote in The Theft of Childbirth, "the educated woman was seen as a threat to the survival of the species…. Patriarchal society would seem to require not only that women shall assume the major burden of pain and self-denial for the continuation of the species, but that a majority of that species—women—shall remain essentially uninformed and unquestioning.”

Today, in the twenty-first century, 50 years after the passage of both Title IX and Roe v. Wade, it appears that patriarchal interests continue to assault - from the womb to the football pitch - women's bodies and interests.

Much has been written recently, after the leak of Justice Alito's hateful attack, about Roe v. Wade and what overturning it would mean to women.

Less has been reported about attacks on Title IX, which was passed to prohibit sex discrimination - including on issues of pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity - in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Over time it created new opportunities for women - opportunities denied them for generations by the misogynistic manipulations of cisgendered, patriarchal white men.

Before 1972 there were fewer than 300,000 girls playing sports in only about 15,000 American high schools, compared with over 3,600,000 million boys in virtually every school.

Today, because of Title IX, there are over 3,400,000 girls (in over 312,000 schools) competing across a sports spectrum - including at what Americans call soccer - with many hopeful for college scholarships unavailable before 1972.

Last month, 50 years after Title IX was passed; 50 years after women were given sports platforms upon which to compete and showcase their athletic abilities, an historic agreement was struck that guarantees that all national team soccer players - regardless of gender - will receive equal pay when representing America.

Finally, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) agreed to pay athletes equally for doing exactly the same job: A job, I might add, where men, since 1934, have never finished above 8th place while America's women have won four World Cups since 1991!

“When my coach said I ran like a girl," Mia Hamm recounted, "I said that if he could run a little faster he could too.”

A job where previously women soccer players couldn't earn more than $260,000 while male losers could earn more than $1,000,000.

According to the NY Times, “U.S. Soccer will distribute millions of extra dollars to its best players through a complicated calculus of increased match bonuses, pooled prize money and new revenue-sharing agreements that will give each team a slice of the tens of millions of dollars in commercial revenues that U.S. Soccer receives each year ...”

This isn't about equity - it's about equal pay for equal work!

Right-wing activists have for some time been attempting to conflate "equality" and "equity," in the minds of suggestible followers, intimating that somehow Democrats and progressives are trying to assure equal societal outcomes.

Nothing's further from the truth: Equity and Equality may sound similar but they're not.

Equality means all individuals or groups should be given the same resources or opportunities while equity recognizes that because some individuals or groups have different (often limited) circumstances they may need different resources and opportunities in order to equally compete.

For example, students with broadband at home are advantaged over students who have to sit on the curb in front of McDonalds to access the internet.

Teams with fully-equipped weight rooms are advantaged over teams that don't.

To suggest that women athletes should not be equally compensated with men because they've been competing for fewer years is to suggest, perhaps, that Black American votes should count less since they've been voting for fewer years than privileged whites.

Perhaps, as women have only been voting for 102 years, their votes should be devalued by 50%; perhaps Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's opinions should've mattered less because she occupied a seat believed reserved for white men.

Some critics whine that sports “equity” means that some male sports programs may have been eliminated by making room for women, reasoning that ignores that for generations only men decided who got to play what.

Today, an overwhelming number of high-ranking women executives at Fortune 500 companies say their opportunity to compete in sports contributed to their success in fields previously dominated by white men.

Perhaps that is really patriarchy's fear.

"When I was a little boy," Will Smith recounts in King Richard, "my mom used to say, 'Son, the most powerful, the most dangerous creature on this whole earth is a woman who knows how to think.'"

Women who think: May their presence persist.

Robert Azzi, a photographer and writer who lives in Exeter, can be reached at theother.azzi@gmail.com. His columns are archived at theotherazzi.wordpress.com

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: The patriarchy's worst fear – women who think and compete

'Enough is enough': Boston Celtics wear 'We are BG' shirts to support Brittney Griner at NBA Finals

Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY
Sat, June 4, 2022,

The Boston Celtics stand in solidarity with Brittney Griner.

Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams and other Celtics teammates donned black and orange shirts that read "We Are BG" ahead of their practice at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday. The back of the shirt featured a QR code that links to a Change.org petition to "Secure Brittney Griner's Swift and Safe Return to the U​.​S."

As of Saturday afternoon, the petition has over 243,000 signatures.

"As a collective, we wanted to come out and show our support for Brittney Griner," said Brown. "She's been over there for an extended amount of time, and we feel like enough is enough."

Williams added: "We just wanted to show that togetherness and love that we have throughout not only the NBA, the WNBA. She’s been a vital part of the WNBA for years past, college and in the amount of impact she’s had on young female athletes."

Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, has been detained for 107 days after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The U.S. State Department reclassified Griner as being "wrongfully detained" by the Russian government last month.

WHAT'S NEXT? Former governor who helped free Trevor Reed hopeful for Griner

Williams said he coordinated with the Women's National Basketball Players Association and the National Basketball Players Association to overnight the shirts for the players.

"We just wanted to do that as a team," Williams explained. "It was one of those things where no one questioned it. Everyone said, 'Let's do it.' Everyone put the shirt on immediately when we got them, fresh off the box. They were ironed and good to go. So we wanted to show that love and support."

Jayson Tatum opened up about getting to know Griner while representing the 2020 United States men's and women's national teams. Tatum and Griner both won an Olympic gold medal during the Tokyo Games.

"Being over there with the Olympics, obviously it was during COVID and we couldn't really go out and see other events and things like that. So after the games, after practice, we would be in the hospitality room, men and women. We would be in there, playing cards, karaoke, things like that, video games," Tatum said. "Great person to be around. She just enlightens the entire room with her personality."

He continued: "It's extremely tough seeing what she's going through. I know everybody sees and feels that, and obviously we're all together in support trying to bring her back to her family and things like that. Yeah, wearing those shirts today in support of her."

'NOT THE SAME': Phoenix Mercury, fans feel Brittney Griner's absence

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league is working to "expedite" Griner's release.

"It’s been now over a hundred days since she’s been illegally held in Russia," Silver said Thursday ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. "I think it’s something that all of us should be heard on, contacting your representatives and others. I will only say we are working in lockstep with the U.S. government and outside experts on trying to expedite her release in any way we can. Certainly our hearts go out to her and her family, and just are eager for her safe return. And so I join my colleagues in the WNBA in making reference to her as well."

Game 2 of the NBA Finals takes place Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. The Celtics lead the series 1-0.

Follow Cydney Henderson on Twitter @CydHenderson

BRITTNEY GRINER'S WIFE pleads to President Biden to help bring WNBA star home

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boston Celtics wear 'We are BG' shirts to support Brittney Griner

Celtics ramp up pressure on White House to bring Brittney Griner home from Russia

Jason Owens

Sat, June 4, 2022,

Boston Celtics players delivered a message to the White House on Saturday during their NBA Finals practice.

Bring Brittney Griner home.

Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Grant Williams and other Celtics players wore T-shirts at practice reading "We are BG" and imprinted with a QR code on the back linking to a petition calling for Griner's safe return.

Griner — a seven-time All-Star for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury — has been detained in Russia on drug charges since Feb. 17 after she allegedly carried vape cartridges containing hashish oil through a Moscow airport security checkpoint. Smart, Brown and Jayson Tatum all spoke about Griner during their media availability.

"It's extremely tough seeing what she's going through," Tatum said. "Everybody sees and feels that. Obviously we're all together and support trying to bring her back to her family."

"We feel like it was a good idea to use our availability and our platforms to bring attention to certain matters," Brown added. "I always stand for that. Being an athlete, we're not just here to entertain you guys. We also have a voice. ... Today was a good day to bring attention to a topic that was necessary."

Smart simply stated: "Free BG, man. We're here. We're here for her. We stand with her."

The petition linked to the QR code is titled: "Secure Brittney Griner's Swift and Safe Return to the U​.​S." It calls for President Joe Biden by name to take action to bring Griner home.

"White House and Biden Administration, we ask that you take action today – doing whatever is necessary – to bring Brittney Griner home swiftly and safely," the petition reads.

It also blames "pay inequity" for Griner's detention. Griner was in Russia during the WNBA's offseason to play for EuroLeague team UMMC Ekaterinburg. She reportedly makes substantially more money playing in Russia than in the WNBA.

With Russia engaged in its ongoing war against Ukraine and its people, negotiating Griner's return is far from a simple matter. Russia has reportedly demanded that the U.S. deliver convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout aka the "Merchant of Death" in exchange for Griner. Bout has been detained in the U.S. since a 2008 international sting operation and 2012 conviction on four charges including conspiracy to kill Americans.

As calls for Brittney Griner's return amplify, negotiating her release from Russian detainment remains perilous. (AP /Ross D. Franklin)