Sign up for Reuters newsletters

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello,

This week opens with devastating news from Gaza as citizens from Australia, Britain and Poland were among seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen (WCK) who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Monday, the NGO said.

The tragic loss of humanitarian aid workers not only underscores the need for sustainable solutions to prevent and mitigate conflicts, it also highlights the importance of upholding and protecting workers’ rights in the pursuit of global humanitarian efforts.

The workers, who also included Palestinians and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, were traveling in two armored cars emblazoned with the WCK logo and another vehicle, WCK said in a statement. Click here for the full Reuters report.

The U.S.-based, non-governmental organization WCK was set up by Michelin-starred chef Andres and his wife Patricia in 2010 following a major earthquake in Haiti, initially to provide emergency food aid to survivors. Click here to learn more about the humanitarian initiatives the WCK has undertaken across the world.

A vehicle where employees from the WCK were killed in an Israeli airstrike amid the ongoing conflict, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza, Strip. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

Israel has long denied it is hindering the distribution of urgently needed food aid in Gaza, saying the problem is caused by the inability of international aid groups to get it to those in need.

Despite coordinating movements with the Israel Defense Forces, the convoy was hit as it was leaving its Deir al-Balah warehouse, after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, WCK said.

“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” the Israeli military said.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” said Erin Gore, chief executive of World Central Kitchen.

“This is unforgivable.”

The Israeli military said it was doing a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident and pledged an investigation by “an independent, professional and expert body”.

Poland’s foreign minister asked the Israeli ambassador in Warsaw for “urgent explanations” after a Polish volunteer was killed while providing aid in Gaza.

“I personally asked the Israeli ambassador @YacovLivne for urgent explanations,” Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

“He assured me that Poland would soon receive the results of the investigation into this tragedy. I join in my condolences to the family of our brave volunteer and all civilian victims in the Gaza Strip.”

The president of the city of Przemysl, in southeastern Poland, identified the volunteer as Damian Sobol. “Yesterday, our colleague, resident of Przemysl, volunteer, member of the World Central Kitchen team – Damian Sobol, was killed in a rocket attack by Israeli forces on a humanitarian convoy delivering food in the Gaza Strip,” he wrote on Facebook.

“There are no words to describe what people who knew this fantastic guy feel at this moment… May he rest in peace.”

Israel has been under mounting international pressure to alleviate the severe hunger in Gaza, which has been devastated by months of fighting that has laid waste to much of the enclave and forced most of the population from their homes.

Aerial view of people wading though flood waters after tropical cyclone Gamane in Hell-Ville, Nosy Be, Madagascar, in this screengrab from video. Solution Plus Madagascar/via REUTERS

François Bonnici, director of the Schwab Foundation and head of foundations at the World Economic Forum, shares his thoughts on racial and ethnic exclusion, in light of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:

“Despite increased awareness, racial and ethnic exclusion continues to be a pervasive problem. This doesn’t just harm people – it also has a negative impact on businesses and economies.

“In the U.S. alone, the racial wealth gap could translate to a 6% cap on GDP growth by 2028.

“International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination provides a chance to rapidly scale up action and share proven solutions.

“The ‘why’ for boosting racial and ethnic equity is largely understood; now it’s time to implement the ‘how’.

“A new report by the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship demonstrates how advancing equity contributes to core business objectives.

“But it isn’t just the responsibility of the HR department. It requires the adoption of racial and ethnic equity across the whole business, actively championed by leaders.

“Businesses who seize the opportunity will likely unlock new avenues for sustainable economic growth and innovation, while contributing to more inclusive societies.

“Importantly, the report also offers practical insights, showing the proven power of social innovators.

“Many entrepreneurs are already accelerating racial and ethnic equity, while building successful commercial solutions that are expanding markets, unlocking talent, and broadening networks.”

Wider Image: Long the world’s undisputed cocoa powerhouses accounting for over 60% of global supply, Ghana and its West African neighbor Ivory Coast are both facing catastrophic harvests this season. 

Expectations of shortages of cocoa beans – the raw material for chocolate – have seen New York cocoa futures more than double this year alone. They have hit fresh record highs almost daily in an unprecedented trend that shows little sign of abating. 

More than 20 farmers, experts and industry insiders told Reuters that a perfect storm of rampant illegal gold mining, climate change, sector mismanagement, and rapidly spreading disease is to blame. Click here for the full special report.

Penguin chicks wait to be fed at South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds rehabilitation centre, in Cape Town, South Africa. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Are you bored of buying eggs made of chocolate and wrapped in foil with predictable bunny motifs? 

This Easter in South Africa you could instead spend your cash on an egg that will hatch a live penguin. But these ones are not for taking home.

Since the start of the year, a South African conservation group has been incubating over 200 eggs of the endangered African penguin that were previously rescued from two colonies.

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is soliciting donations to meet the cost of incubating them by inviting people to “adopt an egg.”

The African penguin –  the only species that breeds on the continent, and which is also found in Namibia – was once South Africa’s most abundant seabird.

Gareth Pritchard and Richard Hewitt, in the background, plant Cotoneaster cambricus at an unidentified location in Wales, in this handout image. Chester Zoo/Handout via REUTERS 

Meanwhile, at a secret location in the Welsh countryside, naturalists have planted 30 young specimens of a once-common plant that has been collected – and nibbled – almost to extinction.

Cotoneaster Cambricus, Welsh Cotoneaster, only grows on wild and windy cliffs in North Wales. By the 1960s, overcollection by 19th-century enthusiasts and grazing by sheep, goats and rabbits had reduced the number in the wild to just six.

Today’s Sustainable Switch was edited by Susan Fenton

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content.

Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com

Sustainable Switch is sent three times a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.
To manage which newsletters you’re signed up for, click here.

Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement