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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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Today’s focus is the damage to the water level at a reservoir in southern Ukraine after the collapse of a dam at the nearby Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station. This comes as a new report shows how the impact of the war in Ukraine is deepening the climate crisis.

Ukrainians abandoned inundated homes as floods crested across the southern region of Kherson after the destruction of a huge hydroelectric dam on front lines between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with their presidents trading blame for the disaster.

Residents slogged through flooded streets carrying children on their shoulders, dogs in their arms and belongings in plastic bags while rescuers used rubber boats to search areas where the waters reached above head height.

A view shows a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Vladyslav Smilianets

Ukraine said the deluge would leave hundreds of thousands of people without access to drinking water, swamp tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and turn at least 500,000 hectares deprived of irrigation into “deserts”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Russian-occupied areas due to the flooding, urging a “clear and rapid reaction from the world” to support victims.

“The situation in occupied parts of the Kherson region is absolutely catastrophic. The occupiers are simply abandoning people in frightful conditions. No help, without water, left on the roofs of houses in submerged communities,” he said.

Visiting the city of Kherson downstream from the dam, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said over 80 settlements had been affected by the disaster, and that the flooding had released chemicals and infectious bacteria into the water.

Ihor Syrota, general director of Ukrhydroenergo, told Ukrainian television that a drop below the current water level at the Kakhovka Reservoir could affect the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station and water supply to other regions.

About 600 square kilometers, or 230 square miles, of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine was under water on Thursday following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the regional governor said.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said 68% of the flooded territory was on the Russian-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River. The “average level of flooding” in the Kherson region on Thursday morning was 5.61 meters (18.41 ft), he said.

“Despite the immense danger and constant Russian shelling, evacuation from zones of flooding is continuing,” Prokudin said.

The war in Ukraine is deepening the climate crisis at a time when global greenhouse gas emissions are already running at a record high, according to a report by carbon accounting experts who have tallied the overall impact of the conflict.

The report, which was released on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Bonn this week, calculates that the first 12 months of the war will trigger a net increase of 120 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses, equivalent to the annual output of countries such as Belgium.

A smokey skyline in a pane of glass are seen from the CN Tower as wildfires in Ontario and Quebec continue to burn, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 6, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

Paul Buchwitz, portfolio manager at German asset management company shares his thoughts on World Oceans Day on June 8:

“The health of the oceans should be of interest to us all – not just for ecological reasons, but also for economic ones.

“The Blue Economy is expected to grow faster than the overall economy by 2030 and more than double its contribution to global value creation by 2030, starting from 2010. 

“But according to a forecast by the WWF, value losses of more than $8.4 trillion could be imminent in the next 15 years: pollution, overfishing and advancing climate change are putting considerable pressure on the marine ecosystem around the globe. 

“The pressure to act is therefore greater than ever. Around 70 percent of all economic and service activities related to the ocean depend on a healthy ecosystem. Or, to put it another way, most of the businesses we invest in are exposed to risks related to ocean degradation.

“An important step in reducing these risks in the long term is to transform the Blue Economy into a sustainable Blue Economy.

“Investors have an important role to play here. It is not only important to promote companies whose business models and products already have a positive impact on the oceans, but also to work with companies that still need to improve their impact on the oceans.”

A searing heatwave in Bangladesh spurred the closure of primary schools this week and triggered frequent power cuts, worsening conditions for residents unable to run fans to cool themselves as weather officials warned relief was not imminent.

The maximum temperature soared to nearly 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) from 32C 10 days ago. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned that there was no end in sight for the heat. The power crunch could also disrupt summer clothes supplies for retailers such as Walmart, Gap, H&M, VF Corp, Zara and American Eagle Outfitters, some of Bangladesh’s largest export customers.

A recyclable waste collector weighs a sack of plastic containers submitted by Fatimoh Adeosun, in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Today’s ESG Spotlight showcases an eco-friendly novel solution to private school fees in Nigeria, while an Indonesian marine scientist enlists former poachers to rehabilitate coral reefs. 

Nigerian fourth-grader Fawas Adeosun often used to get sent home from school through the gritty streets of Lagos because his mother, Fatimoh, had not paid his fees, until he enrolled in a different school offering a novel solution.

My Dream Stead school, in Ajegunle neighborhood where the Adeosuns live, is one of 40 low-cost schools in Nigeria’s commercial capital that accept recyclable waste as payment.

For the past four years, a local environmental organization called African Cleanup Initiative has been collecting bottles, cans, drink cartons and plastic containers brought into the schools by parents and selling them to recyclers. The proceeds of the sales pay for teacher salaries, children’s uniforms, books and pens, among other expenses.

Former poacher Haji Dahrin, and scientist Syafyudin Yusuf, spawn corals in aquariums at Badi Island, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Rachman Muchtar

For nearly two decades, Indonesian marine scientist Syafyudin Yusuf has worked with former poachers to rehabilitate coral reefs destroyed by their use of dynamite for fishing. They have restored to health 11.5 hectares (roughly 30 acres) of corals around a group of 120 islands known as the Spermonde archipelago in the Makassar Strait off Sulawesi.

“We enter their lives and try to influence their… mindsets to be able to change from destructive fishing to being conservationists,” Syafyudin said, adding that his team anchors frames into the seabed to allow corals to grow undisturbed.

“Given the absolute importance of alternative fuels for the shipping industry as well as for other sectors across civil society to achieve decarbonization, we all need to work together to increase their availability at scale.”

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of the cruise division at global container shipping company, MSC Group

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