India: Overlooking Climate Drag On Its Economic Growth
May 31st, 2025
Courtesy of The Financial Times, commentary on how India is overlooking the climate drag on its economic growth: The November COP29 summit ended predictably: a last-minute, watered-down commitment to support developing countries in their urgent climate adaptation efforts was delivered. India’s delegate then led the equally predictable outcry with a fiery diatribe against the paltry […]
Read more »Power-Hungry Data Centers Are Warming Homes in the Nordics
May 15th, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a look at how – by pairing computer processing facilities with district heating systems – countries like Finland and Sweden are trying to limit their environmental downsides: When Finnish engineer Ari Kurvi takes a hot shower or turns up the thermostat in his apartment, he’s tapping into waste heat generated by a 75-megawatt […]
Read more »The Wealthy California Town That Can’t Get Rid of Water Fast Enough
May 15th, 2025
Via SFGate, a report on a city slipping into the ocean: Every day, Rancho Palos Verdes inches closer to destruction. The beleaguered Southern California city, which is southwest of downtown Los Angeles and hugs the waterline between Redondo Beach and San Pedro, is quite literally sliding into the ocean, sometimes at a rate of 4 inches per week. […]
Read more »Private Equity Eyes Up US$1.3 trillion Climate Adaptation Market by 2030
May 15th, 2025
Via EcoBusiness, a report on a new study that – while the public sector is expected to account for the bulk of adaptation funding – identifies six investable segments for private investors, from climate risk data providers to flood defense infrastructure: As the climate crisis intensifies, adaptation and resilience are emerging as the next frontier for […]
Read more »Why Are All of America’s Biggest Cities Sinking?
May 8th, 2025
Via Grist, a report on a new study finds that the country’s 28 most populous metros are losing elevation, from New York City to Seattle. Cities sit unmoving on the landscape — a sprawling collection of roads, sidewalks, and buildings designed to last for generations. But across the United States, urban areas are silently shifting: […]
Read more »Are China’s Battery Swap Stations The Future of Electric Cars?
May 7th, 2025
Via BBC, a look at China’s swap stations, where drivers can get new fully charged EV battery in five minutes: At a battery swap station near the Beijing Olympics Sports Centre, the owner of a Nio car watches as a fully charged battery is placed into his vehicle. The station’s staff drive his car onto […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.