Today’s ESG Updates
- US and Iran Exchange Strikes as War Reignites: A U.S. strike on Iran’s Larak Island and Iran’s retaliatory missile fire on the U.S. bases in Jordan have reopened hostilities, putting the Strait of Hormuz back in the crosshairs.
- China’s Niutech Bets on Plastic Waste to Fuel Planes: Chinese pyrolysis firm Niutech has signed a deal to convert waste plastic into oil for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
- Nepal Races to Free Hundreds Trapped in Flooded Hydropower Tunnels: Rescue teams are digging through blocked tunnels to reach 933 workers still missing after last week’s glacial flood killed more than 900 people.
- Study Exposes Cracks in Cocoa Sustainability Monitoring: New research has found up to a quarter of farm entries in Côte d’Ivoire shade-tree programme had been manipulated.
US and Iran exchange strikes as war reignites
Two rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island have been struck by U.S. forces near the port of Bandar Abbas, killing two people and leaving two more injured, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strike marked the first known U.S. action against Iran since Trump’s pause on military action in late July. Within hours Iran responded, firing ballistic missiles at two U.S. bases in Jordan, with the army saying eight of them were intercepted early Monday Morning. Iran’s state TV separately reported that its army had conducted a drone strike on a UAE air base.
The renewed exchange lands squarely on the corridor that once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, before it was closed to shipping due to the war, the Strait of Hormuz. Allegedly, vessels are now being charged $2 million by Iran to pass near Larak Island. Six months into the conflict, the toll looks less like a fee and more like a warning of what a wider war could cost global energy markets.
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China’s Niutech bets on plastic waste to fuel planes
Niutech Technology Group, a pyrolysis specialist based in China, has struck a deal to supply a major global energy firm with an industrial-scale line that turns waste plastic into pyrolysis oil. The oil will then be refined into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The production line, according to the firm, will be capable of processing between 10,000 and 50,000 tonnes of plastic a year. The project is Niutech’s first with this customer and marks the start of what both companies are calling a long-term partnership. The customer, which has been expanding its investment in renewable energy and named SAF a strategic priority, will then refine that pyrolysis oil into hydrotreated sustainable aviation fuel at one of its own refineries.
The deal reflects an industry wide search for alternatives to used cooking oil, which is currently the dominant SAF feedstock, as the EU’s blending mandate climbs from 2% this year to 70% by 2050.
Related Articles
Here is a list of articles selected by our Editorial Board that have gained significant interest from the public:
Nepal races to free hundreds trapped in flooded hydropower tunnels
The devastating aftermath of last week’s Himalayan flood continues as more than 900 are now confirmed dead and nearly 5,000 remain missing. On Monday, rescue teams stepped up efforts to reach 933 workers still believed to be trapped at 11 hydropower projects across the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts with controlled blasts and excavators being used to clear blocked tunnels. Three bodies have been recovered so far, with other sections still buried under mud and rock.
The Red Cross predicts that over 90,000 people have been affected by the disaster, which China has linked to the effects of climate change. A crater left by the glacier collapse has grown to 174,000 square metres and holds an estimated 2.5 million cubic metres of water, raising concerns of a chain-reaction flood if breached. Nepali officials say China has shared little data on glacier risk, however Beijing disputes this, claiming it has continuously provided information.
Study exposes cracks in cocoa sustainability monitoring
Sustainability reporting in cocoa supply chains may be far easier to manipulate than certification schemes assume, a new study by ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge suggest. The research assessed 407 Côte d’Ivoire cocoa farms as part of a shade-tree reward programme. Results showed as many as one in four entries had been altered, with retroactive changes jumping from 6-7% to 33% once farmers missed their target on the first attempt. Patterns identified in the study present broader risks in self-certification methods whenever a financial reward is attached. The researchers also found that when target criteria was withheld from auditors, manipulated data fell from 25% to 11%.
Co-author of the study, Rachael Garrett called the timing significant, with the EU Deforestation Regulation soon requiring companies to prove their supply chain monitoring works, beginning in December 2026 for large firms.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Jens Rademacher.
