An Old-School Building Material Could Take Over City Skylines
December 5th, 2023
Via The Washington Post, a report on how architects are in a proof-of-concept race to construct sustainable wood high-rises: It is right to say that the construction of one of the tallest timber buildings in the world — the Sara Cultural Center here — began when a pine seedling was planted in a nearby commercial […]
Read more »Fighting Extreme Heat With Parametric Insurance
December 5th, 2023
Via the Arsht-Rockefeller Center, a look at how the Extreme Heat Income Micro-Insurance, Arsht-Rock’s new parametric insurance product, will help 21,000 women in India cover wages they would otherwise lose due to climate-driven extreme heat: Manju was just 10 when she and her siblings began working as waste recyclers to sustain their family’s income after […]
Read more »An Architect Has Found a Way to Build Flood-Proof Homes
December 3rd, 2023
Via The Washington Post, a report on one architect’s efforts to build swaths of flood-resistant homes out of bamboo: Yasmeen Lari spent a four-decade career designing award-winning structures out of concrete, glass and steel before stumbling into her ideal material. It was at a camp for refugees from military conflict in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat Valley. […]
Read more »Rising Tides, Rising Solutions: Tuvalu’s Innovative Climate Adaptation Strategies
December 1st, 2023
Via The Diplomat, a look at what the world can learn from Tuvalu’s unique approach to the existential threat of climate change: Climate change is destroying our world as we know it. The Pacific Island countries have been hit hardest by its effects, forcing them to take drastic measures to adapt. Tuvalu, in particular, is […]
Read more »Living In A +50°C World: Cooling Must Be Considered Critical Infrastructure
November 30th, 2023
Via the University of Birmingham, a new call for global cooling and cold chain to be considered as critical infrastructure: Experts from the University of Birmingham are calling for global cooling and cold chain to be considered as critical infrastructure as the planet continues to heat. The report, The Hot Reality: Living in a +50°C World, comes […]
Read more »Stay Cool: NYC Planting Thousands of New Trees To Maximize Foliage Impact
November 30th, 2023
Via The Guardian, a report on New York City’s plan to plant thousands of trees using new tech to maximize foliage impact: New York City is poised to get a lot more trees. Last month, the city council passed a measure calling for 30% canopy cover by 2035, up from its current cover of 22% […]
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.