The “Venice of Africa” Is Sinking Into The Sea
June 25th, 2024
Via The Economist, a look at how many of Africa’s megacities are being swamped by rising oceans: It may not look like much anymore, but in its heyday La Chaumière was the “premier nightclub in all Saint Louis”, recalls Cheikh Badiane. When the ocean tide was low, the long beach extending far into the distance […]
Read more »Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing
June 17th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on how extreme weather threatens the investment value of many properties, but financing for climate mitigation efforts are only just getting going: Rising sea levels, biodiversity collapse, extreme weather—these are the grisly horsemen of climate apocalypse. But don’t forget the fretting loan officers. A study published earlier this year found that US mortgage […]
Read more »Are Floating Cities the Solution to Rising Seas?
May 18th, 2024
Via The New York Times, a look at whether living on the water our future? Floating developments, including a project in progress in South Korea, suggest that it’s more than a pipe dream. Worldwide, rising sea levels and increasing urbanization represent a formula for disaster, with more and more people seeking to live on land […]
Read more »Radical Adaptation: Transforming Cities for a Climate Changed World
May 7th, 2024
Via Noema, commentary on society’s tendency to keep rebuilding (and subsidizing) areas that are all but certain to flood again, to burn again, to fall into the ocean? It’s time to rethink climate adaptation, with retreat as the first step: In the months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans proposed a flood control program unlike any […]
Read more »The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities
May 6th, 2024
Via Truthdig, a review of a new book examining sea level rise: Like a cosmic ba-da-bing, Jeff Goodell’s “The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World” was delivered to my doorstep as Hurricane Irma whipped its way toward Florida. The second Category 4 hurricane to hit the states […]
Read more »The Drowning South: Where Seas Are Rising Faster Than Anywhere Else
April 30th, 2024
Courtesy of the Washington Post, a report on the U.S. South where seas are rising faster than almost anywhere: One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found. At more than a dozen […]
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.