Saudi Arabia's economy is transforming. What's behind it? The Public Investment Fund, or PIF.

It's one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, creating 13 new sectors,

66 companies, and more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs so far. PIF is also the first

sovereign wealth fund to issue a green bond supporting Saudi Arabia's 2016 Net Zero emissions target.

Find out more at pif.gov.sa.

Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

After a decade of crushing civil war and the punishing effects of international sanctions,

Syria's regime is pressed for cash. It would seem it's found one way of keeping the lights on,

trafficking in a party drug that's only growing more popular. And how do you like the sound of a

kelp martini? Offshore farms of the seaweed are bobbing up off the coasts of New England.

It's good both for humans and marine environments, and kelp is finding its way into cocktails, burgers,

even toothpaste. But first,

flooding in Europe that started last week is continuing to wreak havoc. Germany, Belgium,

and the Netherlands have been a worst hit, with a total death toll approaching 200. Hundreds more

are missing. Yesterday during a visit to one affected town,

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel described the floods as terrifying. She said,

the German language knows hardly any words for this devastation.

The disaster has brought the notion of climate change to the fore, regardless of the

proximate cause of this flooding, extreme weather events will become more common.

And sorrow is increasingly turning into anger, as people question how well governments

have prepared for this tragedy and how their political parties are preparing for those yet to come.

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