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Sustainable Switch

Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

Scientists and economists warn about the El Niño weather phenomenon and its effects on food, water and the economies of Latin America, Africa and Asia. I’ll also share some water-related stories on my radar on the dried-up waterways in Europe and North America.

The weather phenomenon, which typically occurs every two to seven years, is likely to bring drought to parts of Asia and heavy rains ‌to parts of South America, threatening harvests and food supplies.

Maximo Torero, chief economist of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, warned that Latin America faces a "double blow" of extreme weather stress and reduced supplies of fertilizers and ⁠hybrid seeds ‌caused by conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.

The impact is expected to be uneven across Latin America. In Peru, the northern coast faces flooding while the highlands suffer from water scarcity — a pattern likely to ‌be ⁠repeated between northern and southern Chile.

Torero urged investments in preparedness, saying every dollar dedicated here yields a $7 return, compared to just $3 for reactive measures.

Over in Africa, forecasters are warning that the El Niño weather pattern — which often drives severe droughts, flooding and storms in Africa — could turn ‌into one of the strongest ever seen if current Pacific Ocean warming trends continue.

Drought conditions, which much of the Sahel region has been suffering from in recent years, may persist, while Mozambique's experiences after Cyclone Idai in 2019 show it can take years to recover from major storms.

The 2023 to 2024 El Niño event caused severe drought in Southern Africa and heavy rains and flooding in East Africa. These conditions led to widespread crop failures, surging food prices, and record-breaking sea-level spikes along the continent's coastlines.

Over in Asia, central banks in the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have already hiked interest rates at least once this year, and a severe El Niño could keep borrowing costs elevated across the region through the start of the following year.

Weaker currencies leave Asian economies more exposed to higher import costs should food and energy prices rise further.

"People are forecasting rate hikes for the second half of the year, especially for the South Asian countries, which are kind of the most impacted by El Niño, such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand," said Gary Tan, equity portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments.

I’ve also got my eye on the falling water levels in Europe and North America’s waterways.

A story on Lake Brenets - a long, winding lake on the Swiss-French border - caught my eye this week as it is now all ‌but drained. Click here to see the images and read more.

In North America, senior water officials are making plans for water sharing across the drought-stricken Colorado River, which would require Arizona, California and Nevada to cut their water use by a fifth in the next two years and to make even deeper reductions later. Click here to read more on those water-sharing plans.

Climate Buzz

1. Two homes, different traumas: Japan quake leaves scars seen and unseen

Tuesday's magnitude-7.1 earthquake killed at least 25 people, but for thousands of survivors — especially those living near the epicentre in places like ⁠Yatsushiro — psychological and financial scars will endure long after the initial disaster. Click here for a story about the survivors who share memories of the 2016 quake and are living through this week’s disaster.

Firefighters take a break outside Nippon Paper Industries’ Yatsushiro mill, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Kyodo/via REUTERS

2. After surviving earthquakes, a family in Venezuela seeks a new beginning far from ground zero

Sticking with survivor testimonies about experiencing natural disasters, click here for a moving follow-up to the fatal June 24 magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5 quakes in Venezuela. The earthquakes killed at least 5,500 people and forced ⁠some 23,800 into makeshift tent camps. The disaster also triggered internal displacement, pushing survivors from the ruined coastal region into precarious new lives in economically depressed western states such as Zulia, home to Maracaibo.

3. Europe’s rising heat deaths

An estimated 2,877 people in Britain have died from heat-related causes so far this year, nearly double ‌the total recorded during all of 2025 and approaching the record set in 2022, the UK Health Security Agency said. France's national health agency said that there had been 5,764 excess deaths in the country between June 17 and July 2, while Germany's RKI health body said that an estimated 9,800 people had died so far this year from heat-related causes.

4. Climate change made 'fire-prone' weather conditions more likely in Spain and France

Human-caused climate change made the extreme weather fuelling wildfires in southwestern France twice as likely, and ‌made the conditions driving blazes in central Spain 20 times more likely, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said. Climate change increases hot, dry, flammable conditions that are extremely conducive to wildfires, said Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather at Imperial College London, who ‌co-authored ⁠the WWA analysis. Click here to read more.

5. South Africa tribunal approves Equinix data centres despite activist objections

In May, I wrote about the proposal for two data centres in South Africa's Cape Town, which faced opposition from local and international activist groups. Now, the municipal authorities in Cape Town have approved the proposal. The decision marks a significant step forward for U.S.-listed Equinix and its planned development in the King Air Industria area, as demand for data-centre infrastructure rises across Africa. Click here for the full story.

What to Watch

For Gaza's beekeepers, the struggle to rebuild their livelihoods after more than two years of war is about much more than honey. It is also about preserving one of nature's most important pollinators in a territory where farmland has been devastated and access to orchards near the border with Israel has been cut off. Click here for the full story and video.

Climate Commentary

The U.S. is increasing its exports of ethane – the foundation of plastics, packaging, and countless manufactured products – to China. The problem for Washington is that it goes against its current industrial policy. Click here to learn more in a piece by Reuters global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire.
The absence of comprehensive regulation on food safety today should not be read as permission to wait, writes Svanika Balasubramanian, board chair of the Innovation Alliance for the Global Plastics Treaty. Click here for the full Ethical Corp Magazine piece on microplastics in food.