New York Needs to Get Spongier—or Get Used to More Floods
September 29th, 2023
Via Wired, a report on how devastating deluges around the world point to the metropolis of tomorrow: the “sponge city.” Think more parks and fewer parking lots. TWO YEARS AFTER the remnants of Hurricane Ian dumped up to 10 inches of rain on New York City in just two hours, the metropolis is once again inundated today by extreme […]
Read more »Turn Climate Risk Into Opportunity with Resilient Geographies
September 29th, 2023
Courtesy of Climate Alpha, an interesting look at how to turn climate risk into opportunity with resilient geographies: Earlier this month, Climate Alpha’s Founder & CEO Dr. Parag Khanna keynoted Climate Day at CREtech, the Built World’s largest innovation and sustainability conference in New York City. Parag spoke on turning climate risk into opportunity by […]
Read more »Transforming Trees Into Skyscrapers
September 28th, 2023
Courtesy of The New Yorker, a look at how – in Scandinavia – ecologically minded architects are building towers with pillars of pine and spruce: Brumunddal, a small municipality on the northeastern shore of Lake Mjøsa, in Norway, has for most of its history had little to recommend it to the passing visitor. There are […]
Read more »SolarEV Cities Began In the South. Can They Work in the North? First stop, Paris. Next, Berlin.
September 27th, 2023
Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at the first detailed study of combining rooftop solar panels with electric vehicles—for storage and power—in northern latitudes which reveals nuanced potential: A widespread rollout of rooftop solar panels connected to electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the region surrounding Paris, France could supply 60% of the area’s electricity demand and […]
Read more »L.A. Freeway: New Life As Parks and Green Housing?
September 25th, 2023
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a look at how one unfinished freeway could be revitalized as green space and housing: The 90 Freeway, an unfinished three-mile stretch of road from Marina del Rey, is one of Los Angeles’ shortest thoroughfares. Now a local nonprofit is suggesting turning it into a large public park and […]
Read more »How to Cool Down a City
September 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of the New York Times, an article looking at Singapore’s efforts to tackle urban heat: Singapore is rethinking its sweltering urban areas to dampen the effects of climate change. Can it be a model? Singapore’s prime minister has described climate change as “life and death.” He has reason to worry: Stifling temperatures and humidity […]
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.