Beyond the Mekong | Environment | Southeast Asia

El Niño, Climate Catastrophe, and the Coming Financial Showdown

Pablo Berrutti discusses Nepal’s glacial collapse, Indonesia’s wildfires, and why efforts at climate mitigation are falling short.

Mud covers buildings and properties following devastating floods in Trishuli, Nuwakot District, Nepal, Aug. 27, 2026.

Pablo Berrutti is founder and managing director of Altiorem, a sustainable finance library, and a strategic advisor with a background in the integration of artificial intelligence, measuring the impact of climate change and its impact on business.

This includes banks and insurance companies and their awkward relationships with factoring in the challenges of climate change and confronting their responsibilities, which have recently been sorely tested by the arrival of a super-charged El Niño weather phenomena.

In recent weeks the glacial collapse in Nepal, wildfires in Indonesia, the haze, droughts, and typhoons across East Asia have taken horrible toll on human life and racked up damage bills that will be measured in the tens of billions of dollars.

Governments and financial institutions were warned. The potential for this year’s El Niño was first raised in May and formally........

© The Diplomat