Medellín’s Interconnected Green Corridors
August 2nd, 2023
Via C40, a look at Medellin’s green corridor initiative: Since 2016, Medellín has created 30 ‘Corredores Verdes,’ an interconnected network of greenery across the city. This ambitious initiative adds to and further connects existing green spaces, improves urban biodiversity, reduces the city’s urban heat island effect, soaks up air pollutants, and sequesters a significant amount […]
Read more »San Francisco Greening its Streets
August 1st, 2023
Via Robert Brears, a report on one of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) flagship green street projects as part of its 2050 stormwater management goal: In most communities, streets make up a significant percentage of publicly owned land. Green streets use a variety of green infrastructure solutions, including vegetated curb extensions, sidewalk planters, […]
Read more »Hamburg: A Future-Proof, Climate-Resilient City
August 1st, 2023
Via Robert Brears, a look at how leading cities are future-proofing themselves with nature-based solutions that enhance resilience and promote biodiversity. One city leading the way is Hamburg, with green roofs sprouting up across the city: A future-proof city is a city that is resilient to climatic shocks and stresses including floods, droughts, and heatwaves. […]
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.