Venice is the Mediterranean World Heritage Site currently most at risk from flooding due to sea level rise, according to a recent study, and the city even has elevated sidewalks ready in case of high tides, but Monday's waters rose higher than the emergency sidewalks.
The tide surpassed 5 feet, 3 inches, making it the highest recorded since 2008 and potentially the highest recorded since 1979, CNN reported.
Through the process, I gained an insight into the current state of corporate sustainability: how far it's come in this sector, and how far it still needs to go. Here are three themes that emerged.
The fashion and textile industries continue to make strides towards circular models with the emergence of new resources and technologies that make a sustainable shift easier than ever before. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute's Fashion Positive Initiative has unveiled a set of online resources designed to rapidly increase environmental and social outcomes in the fashion industry, while the H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel have uncovered a new hydrothermal process that fully separates and recycles fabric blends that can then be reused directly without any quality loss.
Two Asian nations are on track to exceed their climate goals by 2030, according to the Climate Action Tracker, an analysis produced by a consortium of nonprofits and consulting groups. China and India both have made renewable energy investments and have committed to burning less coal.
A chemical spill along the Elk River in West Virginia has left close to 300,000 people without access to tap water for the past 5 days. The spill originated from a facility run by chemical company Freedom Industries.
Ford and Microsoft were among investors in a $1 billion green bond launched last week to support "climate smart" investments in emerging markets.
Proceeds of IFC green bonds are used for private sector investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other areas that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as installing solar and wind power capacity and providing financing for technology that helps produce energy more efficiently.
IFC said in a statement that the bond transaction, jointly led by BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Crédit Agricole CIB and SEB, was heavily oversubscribed and sized to address the demand from "an increasing number of investors interested in climate-related opportunities."
It marks the second $1 billion green bond transaction this year from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an Aaa/AAA rated global development institution and member of the World Bank Group.
Bond issues are seen as an increasingly important way to raise funds for green projects, with the green bond market now estimated at $346 billion after doubling over 2012.