Record rainfall in Pakistan, India and Chad ?

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It’s a somber start to the week with countries around the world battling catastrophic floods ?? in Pakistan, India and Chad.

Pakistan was scrambling to widen a breach in its biggest lake ?? and prevent the waters from overflowing to swamp nearby towns on Tuesday, worsening unprecedented floods that have inundated a third of the South Asian nation.?

Waters brought by record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan's northern mountains ?? have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,325, including 466 children, national disaster officials have said.?

Floods across Pakistan ? forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes overnight.

Over in neighboring India, large parts of its tech capital Bengaluru were under water ??? after torrential rains uprooted trees, caused crippling traffic and forced offices to issue work-from-home orders to employees, raising fears of further disruptions through the week.?

The Bangalore Urban district on Sunday received 28.1 mm rainfall ?? , 368% more than the average, according to data compiled by the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD).?

Authorities in the Indian city of Bengaluru used tractors ?? on Tuesday to rescue residents of posh housing estates marooned by floods after two days of torrential rain brought chaos.

Meanwhile in Africa, Chad's heaviest seasonal rainfall ?? in over 30 years has left parts of the capital N'Djamena navigable only by boat and forced thousands to flee their flooded homes over the past month, according to aid groups and the state weather agency.?

Floods are not uncommon during the central African country's rainy season??, which usually runs from May to October in its central and southern regions.

But this time, the rains came early ?? and were more abundant, quickly overwhelming drainage channels and ponds.

In Conversation

Mike Thornton, chief executive of British non-profit organization Energy Saving Trust?

“Liz Truss takes the helm as the UK’s Prime Minister during the worst energy crisis in a generation. She must urgently prioritize addressing energy security and affordability, whilst continuing to reduce carbon emissions to maintain a liveable environment for the future.??

?We are also calling for an Energy Demand Strategy to enable households to reduce their energy use through retrofit schemes. This could permanently reduce the energy bills of the UK’s most inefficient homes by an average of ￡1,000 a year and should also be supported by a national, impartial and tailored advice service which breaks down barriers to action.?

Additionally, we need investment in the generation and storage of renewable energy, particularly wind and solar, to decouple the UK from volatile global fossil fuel markets. This will be essential to facilitate the energy transition in the most cost-effective way and will reduce the risk of surging prices in the future. Opposing it in favor of new domestic fossil fuel extraction is a concerning backwards step and we urge a change of position.”?

ESG Lens

ESG Movers and Shakers

U.S. President Joe Biden revamped his climate change team, announcing that longtime political operative and climate advocate John Podesta would join the White House and Ali Zaidi would take over for Gina McCarthy as domestic climate adviser.

Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and counselor to President Barack Obama, will take on a role implementing the energy and climate parts of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. Zaidi, who served as deputy to McCarthy, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, was promoted to become Biden's top national climate aide. McCarthy steps down on Sept. 16.

Eurosif, a European Sustainable Investment Forum, has appointed Aleksandra Palinska as its new executive director. Palinska has more than 10 years’ experience in EU public policy and regulation, covering sustainable finance, financial markets regulation, company law and corporate governance. She has previously held roles at Finance Watch, the European Fund and Asset Management Association, EuropeanIssuers and Better Finance.?

Dutch multinational bank ING has hired Jacomijn Vels as global head of sustainable finance. Vels joined ING in 1994 and has built up in-depth knowledge in the area of lending and solid risk expertise during her 28-year career. Previous roles included head of the leveraged finance team in the Netherlands and regional head of the Asia Pacific Leveraged Finance teams, based in Singapore.

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