How Philanthropy Is Helping Cities Adapt to Extreme Heat
August 11th, 2023
Via Philanthropy.com, a look at how philanthropy is helping cities adapt to extreme heat: In 2019, a group of climate experts gathered at the Bellagio Center, a sprawling 50-acre property owned by the the Rockefeller Foundation on Lake Como in Northern Italy. The year was shaping up to be one of the hottest in recorded […]
Read more »Swiss Re: ‘High Time to Invest in More Climate Adaption’
August 11th, 2023
Via BusinessGreen, commentary that insurers are now seeing the need for more adaptation investment: Severe thunderstorms, earthquakes, extensive flooding, and heatwaves have hit the global insurance industry for $50bn in the worst start to a year for the industry since 2011, according to a major new study that further highlights the intensifying impact of the […]
Read more »Converting Brown Offices to Green Apartments
August 10th, 2023
A detailed NBER report, that examines the conversion of brown office buildings to green apartments as a means of contributing towards a solution to three pressing issues: oversupply of office in a hybrid-and-remote-work world, shortage of housing, and excessive greenhouse gas emissions. The paper proposes a set of criteria to identify commercial office properties that […]
Read more »This Butterfly-Inspired Paint Could Keep Cars and Houses Cool
August 10th, 2023
Via Fast Company, a look at a nature-inspired cooling technology: Scientists have designed a thin film that mimics a butterfly’s wings to help keep surfaces cool. The vivid blue color of morpho butterflies doesn’t come from pigment but from tiny nanostructures on their wings that bend and reflect light. In a recent study, scientists designed […]
Read more »Riding The Heat Wave: Why America’s Hottest City Is Still Booming
August 10th, 2023
Courtesy of The Atlantic, an article on how air conditioning is keeping America’s hottest city still booming: In Phoenix, a high of 108 degrees Fahrenheit now somehow counts as a respite. On Monday, America’s hottest major city ended its ominous streak of 31 straight days in which temperatures crested past 110. The toll of this […]
Read more »The Functionality of Green Infrastructure
August 10th, 2023
Via The Waterfront Alliance, a report on green infrastructure: Have you ever walked down the street and noticed a blossoming garden between the curb and sidewalk? You may have thought this bioswale brightened up the block, but beneath its flourishing exterior it also works to absorb, slow, and filter stormwater flows. In other words, it is a […]
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.