Exclusive: Climate impacts and debt pressures are escalating across the developing world, a new paper from World Vision finds, threatening the long-term development of children more with every year that passes

Exclusive: Climate impacts and debt pressures are escalating across the developing world, a new paper from World Vision finds, threatening the long-term development of children more with every year that passes

Exclusive: Climate impacts and debt pressures are escalating across the developing world, a new paper from World Vision finds, threatening the long-term development of children more with every year that passes

Intesa Sanpaolo, con Up2Stars e In Action Esg CLIMATE 40 startup accelerate e tre progetti green premiati con 100mila euro ciascuno

Intesa Sanpaolo consolida il proprio impegno a favore dell’innovazione, delle startup e della transizione sostenibile con l’evento conclusivo di Up2Stars e In Action Esg CLIMATE, due programmi complementari sviluppati insieme a Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. Le iniziative puntano a sostenere la crescita delle giovani imprese innovative e a valorizzare progetti capaci di generare un impatto concreto sul piano ambientale. 

Il Gruppo ha sostenuto negli ultimi dieci anni la crescita dell’ecosistema dell’innovazione attraverso circa 1 miliardo di euro di finanziamenti destinati a oltre 4.200 startup e imprese innovative. Nell’ambito dell’evento sono state inoltre premiate tre realtà con un contributo di 100mila euro ciascuna, per un totale di 300mila euro, attraverso il programma In Action Esg CLIMATE. 

Up2Stars, promosso dalla Divisione Banca dei Territori guidata da Stefano Barrese, sostiene la crescita delle startup ad alto contenuto tecnologico, favorendone il dialogo con imprese, investitori e operatori specializzati. In Action Esg CLIMATE, promosso da Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni guidata da Virginia Borla, è invece dedicato ai progetti capaci di produrre un impatto ambientale concreto e misurabile. Il Grattacielo Intesa Sanpaolo di Torino ha ospitato le 40 startup protagoniste del percorso di accelerazione di Up2Stars, sviluppato attraverso un network di partner che comprende ELITE, Digit’Ed, Microsoft, Innovit e Factory Plus in qualità di acceleratore. 

Nel corso dell’evento sono state premiate anche le tre startup vincitrici della quarta edizione di In Action Esg CLIMATE, selezionate tra 231 candidature. Tra i progetti premiati figura Rarearth, di Monte San Vito, in provincia di Ancona, che ha sviluppato un processo per il riciclo delle terre rare contenute nei magneti a fine vita, destinato alla produzione sostenibile di nuovi magneti ad alte prestazioni. Premiata anche Pipein, di Torino, con il progetto “Waterguard”, una soluzione pensata per ridurre le perdite nelle condotte idriche sommerse o pressurizzate attraverso sistemi robotici e tecnologie di intelligenza predittiva.

Il terzo riconoscimento è andato a Voidless, di Milano, che innova il settore della logistica producendo in tempo reale scatole su misura per ogni ordine, con l’obiettivo di ridurre costi, sprechi e impatto ambientale. La terza edizione di Up2Stars, lanciata a giugno 2025, ha raccolto 500 candidature e selezionato 40 startup ad alto potenziale, dieci per ciascuno dei quattro ambiti considerati prioritari per il sistema produttivo italiano: Nuovi materiali, Robotica, Aerospazio e Design Tech.

Le startup hanno seguito gratuitamente un percorso di accelerazione curato da Factory Plus, con attività di mentorship e approfondimenti specialistici. Nei quattro Demo Day conclusivi, realizzati con il sostegno di Visa, le realtà selezionate hanno presentato soluzioni in settori che spaziano dall’economia circolare all’intelligenza artificiale, dalla salute alla manifattura digitale, dall’automazione industriale alla space economy.

La distribuzione geografica delle 40 startup vede il Nord Italia ospitarne il 75%. La Lombardia è la regione più rappresentata, con 16 startup, di cui 13 a Milano, mentre la presenza di realtà innovative in Campania, Marche e Puglia testimonia la crescita di nuovi poli imprenditoriali anche al di fuori dei tradizionali hub del Nord. Dal 2022, In Action Esg CLIMATE ha raccolto complessivamente oltre 600 candidature, premiato 14 progetti e assegnato grant per più di 2 milioni di euro. 

Con 1.500 candidature e 120 startup accelerate in tre edizioni, Up2Stars accompagna le imprese innovative dalla fase di accelerazione fino all’accesso al mercato dei capitali attraverso la Lounge ELITE Intesa Sanpaolo. Ad oggi sono 62 le startup entrate nella Lounge, di cui 12 provenienti dall’ultima edizione. 

Negli ultimi dieci anni Intesa Sanpaolo ha inoltre erogato circa 1 miliardo di euro a oltre 4.200 startup e imprese innovative, raggiungendo una quota di mercato del 31% nel segmento startup e del 54% tra le PMI innovative. Nel 2024, inoltre, 12 startup selezionate tra le migliori partecipanti alle prime due edizioni di Up2Stars hanno preso parte a una missione negli Stati Uniti, organizzata dalla Banca dei Territori insieme a INNOVIT, l’Italian Innovation and Culture Hub nella Silicon Valley. L’evento conclusivo ha rappresentato anche un momento di confronto sui temi dell’innovazione e della crescita sostenibile, con gli interventi di Agostino Deiana, Anna Roscio e Serena Fumagalli, oltre alle testimonianze di alcune delle startup accelerate nel programma. 

Al centro della giornata anche la tavola rotonda “L’innovazione a servizio della crescita e delle transizioni sostenibili”, con la partecipazione di Viviana Bacigalupo, Direttrice Generale di Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, Matteo Bertocchi, CEO e Founder di Novac, Antonio Granito, Executive Director Area Finanza e Sostenibilità di Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni, e Stefano Peroncini, Chief Executive Officer di Eureka! Venture SGR. 

Nel corso della cerimonia Lauretta Filangieri, Responsabile Sostenibilità di Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni, ha assegnato i tre contributi, mentre Virginia Borla, Amministratore Delegato e Direttore Generale di Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni e Responsabile della Divisione Insurance di Intesa Sanpaolo, ha chiuso i lavori sottolineando il valore strategico dell’ecosistema dell’innovazione e il ruolo delle assicurazioni nel sostenere lo sviluppo sostenibile e la competitività del sistema economico.

L'articolo Intesa Sanpaolo rafforza il sostegno alle startup, all’innovazione e alla transizione sostenibile proviene da Affaritaliani.it.

Humanity will exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C global warming threshold, but the temperature peak can still be contained between 1.7 and 1.8 °C by mid-century, UNEP warned in its most recent report.

To return to 1.5 °C by the end of the century, countries must cut global emissions by 18 percent by 2030, 45 percent by 2035 and 69 percent by 2040, according to the report.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that surpassing the limit did not mean giving up, referring to the need to maintain ambitious climate targets despite the overshoot.

RELATED: Venezuela and OPEC Fund Assess Partnerships to Address Climate Change

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen stressed that each additional fraction of a degree and each extra year of warming above 1.5 °C would worsen climate impacts and risks, including deadly floods, heat waves and wildfires that have swept numerous countries this year, and said all possible efforts were needed to limit the peak and return to 1.5 °C by the end of the century, which she said was possible.

Continuing current policies will cause a catastrophic increase of 2.8 °C over this century, with a sustained rise in subsequent years, the document warns.

Ahead of the start of the second Global Stocktake at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, UNEP set concrete fossil fuel reduction targets relative to 2025 levels.

By 2035, the agency proposes reducing coal supply by 55 percent, oil by 15 percent and gas by 5 percent; by 2040, it proposes raising the cuts to 75 percent for coal, 30 percent for oil and 35 percent for gas.

Strongest storm of the year is forecast to hit island the hardest before moving towards China

Strongest storm of the year is forecast to hit island the hardest before moving towards China

The United Nations on Wednesday released its annual ‘Emissions Gap’ report, detailing multiple 1.5C overshoot scenarios

I am proof that the right infrastructure, training and support can help farmers cope with extreme conditions, writes Milexi Rodríguez. My farmers’ group is proof it can be scaled for every woman farmer in Honduras

Exclusive: Prevalence of fires is increasing across the Congo and Guinean tropical forest basins, Nick Ferris reports – as fears grow the great forest sinks of Africa could one day go the way of the Amazon and Indonesia

For decades, the European Union has been a global leader in biodiversity protection. The Natura 2000 network, the Birds and Habitats Directives and, more recently, the Nature Restoration Regulation show that Europe has a strong legal framework. 

At international level, the EU also played a decisive role in the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was agreed in December 2022 at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The framework established a global roadmap to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. 

Next week (19-30 October), Yerevan will host COP17 of the Convention, where the first global review of progress since the adoption of the Framework will take place. It will be an important opportunity to determine whether the commitments made are being translated into concrete action and results on the ground. 

As co-chair of the European Parliament delegation attending the conference, I will defend a united European position that is consistent with our historic leadership and responds to the urgency of the challenge.

The European Commission, which formally negotiates on behalf of the Union on the basis of the position agreed with the member states, must promote decisions that accelerate implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework during the remaining years to 2030. 

Honest appraisal? A mixed picture

This global review must be accompanied by an honest assessment of our own performance. Europe should arrive in Yerevan acknowledging both the progress it has made and the work that remains.

The commission’s latest report on the implementation of the framework presents a mixed picture.

Of the 45 targets established for the EU, only two have been achieved and 16 are on track, while progress remains too slow on another 25 and two cannot yet be assessed. 

There are positive signs in the EU. Protected areas have expanded, organic farming has increased and a greater proportion of fish stocks is being managed sustainably.

However, the overall situation of many habitats and species remains worrying, while farmland birds and grassland butterflies, among others, continue to decline. 

The main problem is not a lack of legislation, as Europe already has many of the instruments it needs. The challenge is to implement them properly and turn them into visible improvements on the ground, which requires public authorities with sufficient capacity, reliable data, clear plans and stable funding. 

The Nature Restoration Regulation is a good example.

Restoring wetlands, rivers, forests, soils and marine ecosystems will not only help biodiversity recover, but will also retain water, reduce flood damage, protect soils and make our territories more resilient to droughts, heatwaves and wildfires. 

Missed deadlines

However, the regulation will only deliver results if member states meet their obligations.

The deadline for submitting draft national restoration plans was 1 September, yet only nine countries have done so.

This delay not only slows implementation, but also makes it harder to calculate the cost of restoring nature and the resources that will be required. 

The commission was expected to present an assessment of restoration funding needs and gaps in August 2025, but we are still waiting for a complete analysis.

The commission argues that it needs the national plans to calculate these costs. Yet negotiations on the 2028-2034 financial framework are moving forward while many plans remain outstanding and we still lack a full estimate of the resources needed to implement one of our most important environmental laws. 

This situation reflects one of the main challenges facing COP17.

Adopting targets is no longer enough. We must also agree on how they will be implemented, how progress will be measured and how action will be financed.

Five EU priorities in Yerevan

In this context, I believe that the European position should focus on five priorities. We must mobilise more resources for biodiversity, consolidate the Cali Fund, make progress in eliminating harmful subsidies, assess progress through concrete results and strengthen the role of nature in climate adaptation. 

Finance will be one of the central issues in Yerevan, as the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for the mobilisation of at least $200bn [€178bn] a year from all sources by 2030. Public investment must remain the foundation of this effort, but private capital will also be needed.

With this aim, the commission presented its roadmap for nature credits in July 2025 and is now developing the methodologies, certification systems, oversight arrangements and pilot projects needed for their deployment.

These instruments could help finance conservation and restoration, but they will only be useful if they are governed by rigorous rules and deliver real, verifiable and additional benefits for biodiversity. They must never replace public funding or be used to justify damage to nature in one place in exchange for financing action elsewhere. 

COP17 must also consolidate the Cali Fund, which was created so that companies benefiting from the use of digital information on genetic resources contribute to biodiversity conservation. The agreement reached at COP16 was an important step, but we now need real contributions and a fair distribution of resources, including for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

Another priority must be to eliminate incentives and subsidies that harm biodiversity. It makes no sense to call for new resources to protect nature while public budgets continue to support activities that destroy it.

The European Union should therefore examine its own policies honestly, particularly in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, energy and infrastructure, and establish a timetable for progressively phasing out and ultimately eliminating this harmful support. 

The global review must also measure concrete results. Success cannot be assessed simply by counting strategies or setting targets. We need to know whether ecosystems are recovering, whether species are in better condition, whether protected areas are being managed effectively and whether funding is actually reaching action on the ground. 

We must also strengthen the connection between biodiversity and climate adaptation. The droughts, floods, heatwaves and wildfires affecting Europe show that protecting and restoring nature is not a secondary concern. Healthy ecosystems are among our best defences against the effects of climate change and represent a direct investment in our security, agriculture and economy. 

All these priorities lead us inevitably to the European budget, because political commitments are only credible when they are backed by sufficient resources.

The budget?

There is currently a clear contradiction between the leadership that the European Union wishes to maintain on biodiversity and the place given to it in the proposal for the 2028-2034 financial framework.

Although the commission proposes that 35 percent of the next budget should contribute jointly to climate and environmental objectives, it removes the specific 10 percent target for biodiversity included in the current budget and no longer presents LIFE as a standalone programme.

By placing biodiversity within much broader objectives and funds, its financing becomes less visible and risks being pushed aside by priorities such as security, defence and competitiveness. 

Parliament must defend sufficient and clearly identifiable resources for biodiversity and for the activities currently financed through LIFE.

Simplification can make funding easier to access, but it must not reduce environmental ambition, transparency or democratic oversight. 

This budget debate also affects our international credibility. Europe cannot ask other countries to increase their ambition and financial contributions while weakening budgetary support for biodiversity within the Union itself. Our leadership in Yerevan will depend not only on what we defend in the negotiations, but also on what we are able to implement and finance at home. 

Europe has strong laws, valuable experience and the capacity to lead. We do not need to start again. We need to deliver what we have already agreed, provide the necessary resources and use COP17 to accelerate global action. 

The global review cannot be limited to describing how far we remain from the 2030 targets. It must help us agree on how to close that gap during the four years that remain. I will travel to Yerevan with the European Parliament delegation determined to support that objective. 

Brussels, 17 October, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU energy crisis has placed European leaders under renewed pressure to address high electricity and fuel costs following a Brussels summit that exposed disagreements over carbon pricing, industrial competitiveness and … Read more

• Smoke from fires in Indonesia has blanketed Singapore in haze, obscuring its iconic skyline.
• Air pollution hit its highest level this year on Friday, reaching "very unhealthy" levels.
• The haze has disrupted flights, shuttered outdoor sports facilities, and canceled a run for nearly 3,000.

Singapore, the Southeast Asian financial hub known for its futuristic skyline, has been blanketed by milky haze as smoke from fires in neighboring Indonesia drifts across the region.

The haze has affected Singapore for weeks, with conditions deteriorating in recent days. The pollution has disrupted flights, shut down outdoor sports facilities, and prompted organizers to call off a major running event.

On Friday, air quality in parts of Singapore reached "very unhealthy" levels, with pollution readings hitting their highest point this year.

Here's what the haze looks like across the city.

Singapore's landmark skyline fades into the haze

Marina Bay Sands, the three-towered hotel overlooking Singapore's waterfront, has been shrouded in a milky haze.

Singapore's environmental agency said winds were carrying smoke from fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan region toward the city-state.

Pollution has hit its highest level this year

On Friday, air quality across much of Singapore reached the "very unhealthy" range on the country's Pollutant Standards Index.

At that level, authorities recommend avoiding prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity.

The PSI has been in the unhealthy range since October 5, making it 12 days of poor air in the city.

The last time things looked this foggy in Singapore was during a 14-day period of hazy conditions in 2015. The country has seen shorter episodes of haze conditions in 2019 and 2023, but those blew over within a couple of days.

The haze is affecting air travel

Poor visibility has disrupted flights at Singapore's smaller Seletar Airport, leading to diversions and cancellations.

Both Seletar and the country's main international airport, Changi, remain operational.

Nearly 3,000 runners have had their plans canceled

The ISCA Run, scheduled for Saturday at Gardens by the Bay, was canceled because of the haze, affecting almost 3,000 registered participants.

An ISCA spokesperson told Business Insider that organizers made the call early because air conditions remained unpredictable and they were concerned about the safety of runners, including young children taking part in the Family Run.

The pollution is keeping people indoors

Singapore's public sports operator temporarily closed all outdoor and non-air-conditioned sports facilities it manages across the island on Friday because of the haze.

Indoor, air-conditioned facilities have remained open.

Krill, writes Gordon Peake, are “the least zeitgeisty creatures imaginable”: small, shrimp-like crustaceans whose total population numbers in the hundreds of trillions. Until recently, krill has mostly served as a snack for whales. Now, however, krill is “the latest iteration of capitalism on the frozen frontier,” a health supplement whose market is valued at roughly a billion dollars. Peake spends weeks aboard the Allankay with a crew of vegan activists devoted to ending the krill trade. His dispatch is a brisk history of extractive capitalism in the Antarctic, a fascinating study of an utterly uncool creature, and an uproarious account of a reluctant sailor earning his sea legs. Take the journey with him.

I contemplated the fillets of pink salmon defrosting on my kitchen counter, not too far from the shelf where I keep my supplements, including krill oil, part of my long-established daily routine of taking elixirs with vague but impressive claims about “improved heart health” and “enhanced brain function.” Labels depicting regal seabirds and majestic trawlers and a barmy sense that the more expensive the supplement, the more potent it must be also guided my “decision-making.” I told Hammarstedt I was the sort of fellow who enabled such an industry to exist. He responded with an offer: I should go down to Antarctica to see the krill business for myself.

Heavy rains in Ecuador have left five rivers and one estuary overflowing in three provinces of the Coastal region, damaging thousands of homes, the National Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR) said Monday.

The coastal provinces of Guayas and El Oro, along with the tropical province of Los Ríos, were affected, the SNGR’s official report detailed.

In Los Ríos, Estero Hondo in Puebloviejo, the Babahoyo River and the Chilintomo River overflowed, the report said. A strong downpour during the early morning flooded rural areas such as the Las Cañitas settlement. About 300 families were affected by water entering their homes and contamination of water wells, in addition to the suspension of classes at the local school.

In Guayas, the Balao River overflowed, affecting the Mercado Central and Barrio Nuevo sectors, and the San Rafael River impacted the San Pedro settlement in General Antonio Elizalde (Bucay), the report said.

In El Oro, emergencies were concentrated in Santa Rosa canton, where the Chico and Caluguro rivers overflowed their banks, according to the report.

RELATED: Ecuadorian Youth Call Protest Over Healthcare and Insecurity

The storm left 16 homes completely destroyed, damage to another 4,847 and effects on 10.74 kilometers of road network, the official report said. Authorities also confirmed the collapse of one bridge and structural damage to seven others, complicating access for rescue units to vulnerable areas.

Faced with the health emergency due to contamination of water sources in Babahoyo, the SNGR installed three storage tanks of 2,500 liters each to supply the population and is evaluating the use of local churches as temporary shelters.

Since the red alert was declared for the weather phenomenon on August 29, the number of people affected in the country has risen to 17,142, with 1,354 victims and one deceased. The SNGR counts a total of 349 adverse events that have impacted 22 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, with the greatest incidence in Esmeraldas, Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos, Orellana, Imbabura and Pichincha.

Against this backdrop, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inamhi) maintains an active watch advisory in anticipation of an increase in rains, electrical storms and wind gusts throughout the country until next Wednesday, October 14.

More than a third of people who receive warnings of disasters are unable to act before they strike, according to a global poll. Social resilience has fallen also in Poland, Greece, and France.

The findings, published by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation on Tuesday (13 October), drew on more than 143,000 interviews conducted by Gallup across 140 countries in 2025.

They show that an estimated 1.1 billion people – one in five adults worldwide – experienced a disaster in the previous five years.

Almost 220 million received no warning at all.

“A warning is only as good as what people are able to do with it,” said Nancy Hey, director of evidence and insight at Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Global Safety Evidence Centre.

The gap between being warned and being able to respond is stark between rich and poor countries. Adults in low-income countries were almost twice as likely to have been affected by a disaster as those in high-income countries, at 31 percent compared with 16 percent.

Yet only 64 percent of affected adults in low-income countries received a warning, against 84 percent in high-income countries.

Even when warnings arrive, they do not guarantee safety.

The challenge is not simply to warn people when disaster approaches, but to ensure they have the means and support to act.

Fewer than half of warned adults in low- and lower-middle-income countries were able to act, compared with 71 percent in high-income countries.

Europe’s resilience is unequal

The report’s companion study, ‘A resilient life: How wellbeing shapes the capacity to cope’, pictures the preparedness to act under pressure — including in wealthier countries.

“There are some changes that are happening in Europe that I’m not seeing in other parts of the world,” Hey told EUobserver.

Across the EU, 77 percent of people affected by a disaster received a warning, compared with 80 percent globally.

But only 59 percent of those warned could act, against 64 percent worldwide and 71 percent in high-income countries.

“Some of the biggest drops globally have been in Greece, Netherlands, Estonia, and France, which is surprising given that generally that measure is going upwards,” Hey said.

Just 29 percent of EU households have a disaster plan, and only 28 percent of people think their national government is well prepared for a disaster.

Meanwhile, 44 percent say their government does not care about them at all, compared with 29 percent globally.

The differences between countries are stark.

In France, 80 percent of those affected received warnings, but only 61 percent could act. Just 22 percent of households have a disaster plan, compared with 47 percent in Germany and 60 percent in Austria. And overall, France’s social resilience has fallen six points since 2021.

Greece faces a deeper crisis of preparedness and confidence.

Only 55 percent of disaster-affected people received warnings, and just 39 percent of those warned could act. Only 12 percent believe their government is well prepared, while 70 percent say it does not care about them.

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