Stay to the end — because this week I've got three facts that will genuinely stop you in your tracks. Number one especially. Trust me, you won't have heard this one before.

Every week I go through the sustainability and climate stories that actually matter to business leaders, and this week one story connects almost everything on the list. The Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis is driving oil above $100 a barrel, cutting off humanitarian aid routes, accelerating food insecurity, and handing fossil fuel sceptics a political moment they will not waste. For anyone building a net zero strategy or managing ESG risk right now, this is not background noise. This is the story.

But it is not the only one. We cover ten stories in total this week, from the UK's Climate Change Committee confirming that reaching net zero costs less than managing a single fossil fuel price crisis, to the EU Emissions Trading System coming under real pressure, to AI-driven chip shortages hitting supply chains in ways that are starting to touch sustainability budgets.

And then we get to the three facts. Tehran's water canals catching fire. More than a billion people experiencing climate-influenced temperatures every single day this winter. And extreme dry years in Iran now ten times more likely than before industrialisation. A nuclear-capable nation is running out of water. That is not on the front page. But it should be.

If you work in sustainability, advise organisations on net zero strategy, or lead a business that is trying to understand what any of this means in practice, this channel is for you. Subscribe if you want to stay ahead of the stories that actually matter.

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