Rimal Farrukh

Suriya Mehmood, a pseudonym to conceal her identity, 35, lies in an Islamabad hospital bed recuperating from third-degree burns. Her niece claims the injuries were due to an accident, but Mehmood said she purposefully triggered the gas explosion that gave her burns all over her body. Mehmood, a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan, a remote mountainous region in northwestern Pakistan, was admitted to the burns center at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital in Islamabad in late May.

Fintechs are scaling up greener solutions aimed at neutralizing the adverse impact of climate change. The uptick in climate friendly startups  — the ‘climate fintech’ sector — can be largely attributed towards a steady influx of climate change consciousness among consumers, investors and policymakers. Fintechs aside, traditional financial institutions are also diving into eco-friendly practices. Recently Nasdaq announced that it is developing a trading platform for carbon removal credits.

A coalition of 18 leading financial institutions announced four new commitments to boost racial and economic equity in the financial services industry. The Corporate Call to Action: Coalition for Equity and Opportunity (CCA) aims to drive $30 billion in funding, contracting, and capacity building for communities and business owners of color in the next five years.