Hello, Today's Sustainable Switch – one of the last of the year – focuses on the aftermath of a deadly cyclone that has killed hundreds of people in Mayotte, an archipelago off East Africa. Several hundred people and possibly even thousands were killed when the most powerful cyclone in nearly a century hit the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, a senior local French official said. "I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands," prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville said on local media channel Mayotte La 1ere. Authorities in Mayotte were racing to get food and water to residents stricken by the weekend's devastating cyclone and fighting to stop hunger and disease spreading, officials said. Also on my radar today: |
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French military prepare supplies to be transported in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, at the military airbase 181 in Sainte Marie in Reunion Island, France. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes |
Geographically, Mayotte is in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of southeastern Africa, between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte was initially inhabited by Bantu-speaking people from East Africa. In the 15th century, Arab seafarers arrived, introducing Islam and establishing the Maore Sultanate around 1500. The island experienced various periods of control in the early 19th century, and in June 1843 Mayotte was ceded to France, becoming a French overseas territory. Despite movements for independence in France's colonial African territories during the 1960s-70s, Mayotte chose to remain part of France. It even reaffirmed its position about France during a March 2009 referendum and became an outermost region of the European Union on Jan. 1, 2014. Unlike Mayotte, the nearby Comoros islands declared independence from France in 1975. The disaster from the cyclone is the first challenge faced by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, days after he was named by France's President Emmanuel Macron following the collapse of the previous government. |
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Context about Cyclone Chido |
"Everyone understands that this was a cyclone that was unexpectedly violent," Bayrou said. Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte overnight, Meteo-France said, damaging housing, government buildings and a hospital. It was the strongest storm in more than 90 years to hit the islands, the forecaster said. Ahead of the storm, authorities had put the archipelago on high alert and warned residents to stay indoors, with gusts of wind blowing up to about 200 kph (124 mph). Emergency workers searched for survivors and battled to restore services on Monday. With many areas still inaccessible and some victims buried before their deaths could be officially counted, it could take days to determine the full extent of the destruction. So far, 22 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries have been confirmed, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of the capital Mamoudzou, told Radio France Internationale on Tuesday morning. After hitting Mayotte, Chido made landfall in north Mozambique, killing at least 34 people, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said on Tuesday, citing figures from the southern African country's disaster agency. |
Context about extreme weather in 2024 |
It is not lost on me that this year's newsletter has featured a lot of lethal extreme weather events. The first story of the year was about the devastating earthquake that hit Japan which killed at least 168 people on New Year's Day. Since then, it's been a series of sharing our reportage on historic extreme weather catastrophes. There have been fatal hurricanes hitting the Americas and the Caribbean this year with Hurricane Beryl in July, Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton in October. People in eastern Spain dealt with catastrophic floods in October, while November saw an unprecedented sequence of six tropical cyclones around the Philippines. Though scientists are cautious when it comes to attributing individual weather events to climate change, the consensus is that warmer oceans are intensifying rainfall and wind speeds across the globe. If temperatures rise to 2.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, those same storm conditions seen in the Philippines would be 40% more likely compared to now, said Ben Clarke, a weather researcher at Imperial College London. Click here for the Reuters summary of the report on climate change making the Philippines more vulnerable to tropical storms It also comes at a pivotal time for developing nations and small island states who are waiting for the International Court of Justice to issue an opinion on countries' legal obligation to fight climate change and whether large states contributing most to greenhouse-gas emissions should be liable for damage caused to small island nations. |
An artisanal miner washes tin ore ready to be transported to the nearest major town for export in the Kalimbi tin mine near the small town of Nyabibwe, east Congo. REUTERS/Jonny Hogg |
- DRC v Apple lawsuit: The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed criminal complaints against Apple subsidiaries in France and Belgium, accusing the tech firm of using conflict minerals in its supply chain, lawyers for the Congolese government told Reuters. Click here for the full Reuters exclusive article.
- Trump ESG watch: Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's transition team is recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters.
- Activist killed: The family of a 26-year-old American human rights activist, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, pleaded with Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a U.S. probe into her killing but got no promises, Eygi's husband said. Eygi was shot dead on Sept. 6 in the occupied West Bank after she took part in a protest march in the town of Beita against Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
- Russia oil spill: Spilled oil has washed up along "tens of kilometres" of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, said Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region on his Telegram channel.
- India air quality: India has tightened restrictions aimed at helping the public cope with pollution twice in 24 hours for New Delhi and its surrounding regions after a deterioration in air quality.
- South Africa air quality: In keeping with the topic of air pollution, a South African township known as Sasolburg – due to its proximity to Sasol's oldest coal-to-liquid refinery – has been identified by government officials as one of several areas in the nation that is in urgent need of cutting harmful air pollution from burning coal.
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It's been a year since Kevin Jordan's home in Norfolk, United Kingdom, was demolished after coastal erosion. Here, Jordan shares his reflections on extreme weather and climate adaptation: "As the anniversary of my home being lost to coastal erosion approaches, it is heart-breaking to see more homes on the Hemsby coastline under threat. "Climate change is fuelling this crisis. When I bought my home 15 years ago, I was advised it would be safe for decades to come. "The government's climate adaptation plan is seriously inadequate and unless it is massively improved, communities across the country will be at risk from our rapidly changing weather. "I hope this appeal succeeds and forces the government to give better protection to the hundreds of thousands of homes in England currently at risk of coastal flooding and erosion." |
Adani scandal: The saga over billionaire Gautam Adani's U.S. indictment for alleged bribery continues as an Indian government agency charged with promoting renewable energy has now changed the way it issues power tenders to reduce the risk of corruption, said an official with direct knowledge of the matter. Click here for a Reuters scoop on the Solar Energy Corporation of India's (SECI) deal with Adani Green, the renewables unit of the billionaire's Adani Group conglomerate. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Mark Potter. |
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