Archive for June, 2025
Can India Be Cool?
June 10th, 2025
The Jakarta Parable: Reimagining Urban Areas In A Warming Planet
June 3rd, 2025
Can India Be Cool?
June 10th, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on how India must both promote and prepare for a surge in air-conditioners: MORE EXTREME, less liveable heat is inevitable for India. Last year was the hottest ever recorded there, with some places seeing temperatures in excess of 50°C. Ten of the country’s 15 warmest years on record have occurred […]
Read more »The Jakarta Parable: Reimagining Urban Areas In A Warming Planet
June 3rd, 2025
Via Forbes, a look at how urban areas will have to be reimagined in a warming world: As climate risks intensify — rising seas, extreme heat, and ever-more-frequent storms—cities are being forced to confront a new reality. For centuries, urban centers have been magnets for people, capital, and innovation. Now, they are on the frontlines […]
Read more »ABOUT
'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.