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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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Today’s newsletter focuses on the severe and deadly weather Italy has been enduring this year. Storms, avalanches, floods and drought have slammed the European country over the past year, killing dozens of people, as once exceptional disasters become a regular part of life, leaving the government scrambling for answers.

“Climate change is here and we are living the consequences. It isn’t some remote prospect, it is the new normal,” said Paola Pino d’Astore, an expert at the Italian Society of Environmental Geology (SIGEA).

And keep your eyes peeled on the Reuters Sustainability page on May 22 that follows Charlie Barrett, who works for environmental advocacy group Earthworks, as he hunts through an oilfield in New Mexico’s southeastern desert for methane,  a greenhouse gas that accounts for about a third of global warming and has become a focal point for the climate agenda of both the oil industry and the Biden administration.

1. Devastating Italian floods kill at least 13, wreck homes and farms

Floods that killed at least 13 people in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna caused billions of euros’ worth of damage and hit agriculture particularly hard, the regional governor said.

A man wades through floodwaters after heavy rains hit Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, in Lugo, Italy, May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

2. More than half of the world’s large lakes are drying up, study finds
More than half of the world’s large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, said a study by international researchers published in the academic journal Science.

3. Women, children trek miles in summer heat to get water near Mumbai

Women and children in a hamlet near India’s financial capital use buckets to draw water from a well, pouring it through strainers into vessels and other receptacles for the journey home.

4. Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon falls 68% in April, first major drop under Lula

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell 68% in April from the previous year, preliminary government data showed, a positive reading for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as it represents the first major drop under his watch.

5. Analysis: Shell faces tense shareholder meeting as profits and climate collide

Shell will likely face one of its most acrimonious annual meetings next week as it struggles to balance investor pressure to capture profits from oil and gas and a vocal minority saying it must move faster to tackle climate change.

Southern Europe is bracing for a summer of ferocious drought, with some regions already suffering water shortages and farmers expecting their worst yields in decades. Click on the video for more.

The U.S. is hoping to play key leadership roles in an array of areas tied to the global energy transition, from developing corporate champions that drive emissions reductions to funding research and development of clean-burning fuels.

But while the global community will welcome American ingenuity to help tackle climate-related challenges, many will be wary of following the United States’ example in terms of household electricity use, which on a per capita basis is by far the highest of any major economy

$12.3 billion

Global venture capital funding for clean energy startups jumped to $12.3 billion last year, up from $1.9 billion in 2019, propelled by investment in battery technology and new government subsidy schemes in the United States and Europe, analysis from consultants Oliver Wyman based on data from Crunchbase shows.

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