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 »Which Cities Will Still Be Livable In A World Altered By Climate Change?
September 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of National Geographic, an article on how northern U.S. communities may not be completely immune to a warming world, but they are well-placed to meet the needs of an influx of climate migrants: Before September 2017, Dianiz Roman and Wilfredo Gonzalez had never given a moment’s thought to leaving Aguadilla, the couple’s hometown in […]
Read more »A Building’s Carbon Footprint Is Much Bigger Than It Looks At First Glance
September 20th, 2023
Via Quartz, a look at how indirect emissions like using electricity can triple a building’s carbon footprint: While buildings only contribute to 6% of global emissions, accounting for the use of more electricity and a structure’s materials can triple the size of a building’s carbon footprint, according to a new report by Generation, a sustainable investment firm. […]
Read more »Heat Action Platform
September 19th, 2023
Useful to see Arsht-Rock’s newly launched Heat Action Platform which people can use to assess their city’s heat resilience and find the solutions that work for their community. Reflecting input from cities, community-serving organizations, extreme heat risk and resilience experts, the platform has nine heat resilience modules filled with the data-informed and tested solutions, materials, […]
Read more »In Miami, It’s No Coincidence Marginalized Neighborhoods Are Hotter
September 18th, 2023
Via Inside Climate News, a report on new research that suggests the problem traces to a historical federal program that was turned against those who needed it most, through a practice known as redlining. On another hot September day here, Bereatha Howard sat sipping water in the dappled shade of a leafy tree. The high […]
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.