How One New Jersey Beach City Went From ‘Worst to First’ In Reducing Flood Risk
March 17th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at Sea Isle City’s success in reducing flood risk and building resilience: Sea Isle City, New Jersey, had a dismal flood management reputation for a long time — one so bad that the beach community almost got booted from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program in the […]
Read more »The Designer Who’s Trying to Transform Cities Into Sponges
March 15th, 2024
Via Wired, an article on Kongjian Yu who pioneered China’s “sponge city” concept—less concrete and more green spaces to exploit stormwater instead of fighting it. Metropolises all over the world are following suit: Your city isn’t prepared for what’s coming. The classical method for dealing with stormwater is to get it out of town as […]
Read more »What The World Can Learn From Singapore About Urban Heat Governance
March 15th, 2024
Courtesy of Illuminem, a look at Singapore’s leadership in urban heat governance: Extreme heat poses a significant policy dilemma in the Anthropocene era. The year 2023 witnessed the highest temperature recorded since 1850, surpassing the pre-industrial average by 1.35 degrees Celsius. The period spanning from 2014 to 2023 marked the ten hottest years on record, highlighting the severity […]
Read more »Treebates: Planting A Tree Just Got $100 Cheaper for Some California Property Owners
March 13th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at a unique Southern California program that encourages planting trees in the place of turf lawns: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is encouraging residents and businesses to plant “California-Friendly” and native trees on their property through a rebate announced March 5. The cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies […]
Read more »Coming Soon to Manhattan, a Brand-New Tiny Forest
March 12th, 2024
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how – pocket-size forests filled with native plants which have long been embraced worldwide for their environmental benefits – may be coming to New York City: A trend that’s gaining momentum around the world is set to finally arrive in Manhattan. It’s a tiny forest, to be planted […]
Read more »Where Heat Pumps Win — And Where They Lose
March 11th, 2024
Via Heat Map Daily, a report on five key findings from an extremely thorough study by the National Renewable Energy Lab: Some Americans install heat pumps because they care about climate change. But most people aren’t going to make the switch until it makes sense economically. Pinpointing where and for whom heat pumps make sense […]
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.