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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello,

Severe heat waves this week are hitting Afghanistan’s harvest and causing power shortages in Palestine where they are affecting hospitals and worsening patient conditions, while Indonesia faces agricultural and health issues due to El Nino dry weather patterns.

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Right, let’s get into the latest climate news where a persistent drought across Afghanistan is taking its toll on farmers, its economy – a third of which is generated by agriculture – and food security.

In parched brown hills in north Afghanistan, Abdul Hahad tears stalks of wheat out of the arid earth. In the third year of water shortages and high temperatures, his harvest is barely enough to support his family.

“It’s been three years since the drought started, wells and the river have almost dried up. We don’t even have enough drinking water, you can see all our land has dried up,” he said, as he sat near a pile of wheat beneath the sun in heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

A Palestinian man, Ismail Nashwan, struggles for breath at his house amid a heatwave in Al Burij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip August 9, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Experts say the drought is exacerbated by climate change which leads to intensifying pressure on water resources. The Global Climate Risk Index says Afghanistan is the world’s sixth most affected country by climate-related threats.

With little functioning irrigation, Afghanistan relies on snow melting in the mountains to keep its rivers flowing and fields watered during the summer.

Two years after the Taliban took over in Afghanistan as foreign troops withdrew, stretched water resources and the struggles of agriculture are one of the administration’s top challenges.

With a sharp reduction this year in humanitarian aid and no foreign government formally recognising the Taliban, aid workers and diplomats say the level of development assistance to help with the problem is limited.

Elsewhere, a heat wave and worsening power cuts in Gaza have left some of those living in the overcrowded Palestinian enclave struggling to breathe.

Ismail Nashwan, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, has had to shuttle between his home and hospital since temperatures rose over 38 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), because he could not run his ventilator, or even just a fan, at home.

“I go to the hospital, and when I come back home the electricity goes off again so I go back into the hospital,” Nashwan, 65, said through an oxygen mask, with dozens of bags of medicines on a table next to breathing equipment in his room.

“This is how my life has become.”

More than 2.3 million people live in a narrow strip of land squeezed between Egypt and Israel. 

Power cuts, which are unpredictable at the best of times, now last for around 12 hours a day instead of 10 as demand for air conditioning soars.

Over in Indonesia, El Nino’s dry weather threatens to further dent coffee production in the Southeast Asian nation – the world’s fourth largest grower – after excessive rains dragged down output to its lowest in more than a decade, driving global prices to all-time highs.

“There are forecasts of El Nino weather leading to dryness towards the end of the year and early next year in Indonesia,” said Carlos Mera, head of agri commodities markets research at Rabobank. “If there is dryness, Indonesia’s coffee production could fall further in 2024/25.”

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s capital will force drivers to undergo emission tests, officials said, amid deteriorating air quality that has made Jakarta one of the world’s most polluted cities.

The president himself has been struggling to shake off a cough for nearly four weeks, which one official blamed on the high levels of pollution in Jakarta.

A view of the remains of a building after it was destroyed during wildfires, in Kula, Maui island, Hawaii, U.S., August 13, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Mona Dajani, partner in the project development and finance practice at global law firm Shearman and Sterling, shares her thoughts on the recent anti-environment, social and governance (ESG) lawsuits and policies in Washington:

“For all the anti-ESG commotion in Washington, ESG practitioners thankfully haven’t got too much to worry about on the federal statutory and regulatory fronts.

“Even still, the ideologically inconsistent backlash of a few policymakers has parallels with what we’re seeing in the private sector.

“The ‘thesis’ of ESG is not in question. Doubts over the methods and mechanisms that issuers and investors use to measure, manage, and disclose their ESG performance are under mounting scrutiny.

“The same can be said for the legitimacy of the practice’s sustainability outcomes and, to a lesser extent, financial results.

“The disclosure framework put out by the International Sustainability Standards Board, which has the endorsement of IOSCO, will no doubt help to firm up confidence in corporates’ ESG practices and claims, as will efforts by the U.S., EU, UK and other governments to establish more robust disclosure regimes.

“In the meantime, risk-averse corporations would do well to stay their course.

“ESG is demonstrating its staying power. Fortunately, active management and engagement is increasingly commonplace among investors. 

“Whether it’s financing arrangements, mergers & acquisition transactions, or business-to-business contracts, considerations for sustainability risks remain firmly intact.”

A global failure to curb carbon emissions will lead to rising debt-servicing costs for 59 nations within the next decade, according to a study that simulated the economic impact of climate change on current sovereign credit ratings.

Among them, China, India, the United States and Canada could expect higher costs as their credit scores fall by two notches under a “climate-adjusted” ratings system, the study published in the Management Science journal found.

An employee works on the production of solar lanterns from recycled electronic waste at Quadloop recycling facility in Lagos, Nigeria October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Today’s spotlight shines a light on a business in Nigeria recycling discarded laptops into solar lanterns, while a bike-shop in Cuba makes eco-friendly bicycles out of bamboo.

Meet Dozie Igweilo, founder of Quadloop, an energy company that uses electronic waste like lithium batteries, wires, screws and screens, to build products like solar lanterns and solar home systems locally in Nigeria.

Igweilo saw a demand for affordable local recycled electronics which will also create solutions during power outages whilst helping to tackle climate change.

“We could have tried to do other complex devices, maybe something that has to do with security systems and all, but we looked at the target market and we decided to do things that will be affordable and meet a more pressing need,” said Igweilo.

Nayvis Dias, founder of Velo Cuba, shows eco-friendly bamboo bicycles at her office in Havana, Cuba, July 21, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

Among the classic cars, mopeds and rickshaws Cubans use to get around Havana, a new kind of ride is hitting the streets – bamboo bicycles made by a local workshop.

Velo Cuba has partnered with stay-at-home moms and members of the deaf community teaching them to build and repair the bamboo bikes.

“We have learned a lot of things we didn’t know and it helps us to have a job in the future. Another thing I see in the course is the relationship forming with the non-deaf people, even though many of them don’t know sign language, it’s been really nice,” said deaf student Yaquelin Gonzalez.

“In a world grappling with the challenges of urbanization, industrialization, and environmental degradation, the quest for cleaner air has become an urgent need and innovative solutions that prioritize sustainability and human well-being are paramount.”

Betta Maggio, founder and CEO of Europe-based environment services firm, U-Earth

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