Turning Cities Into ‘Sponges’ Could Help Fight Flooding
August 14th, 2024
Via CNN.com, a report on the growing ‘sponge city’ movement: Most architects look to control nature; Kongjian Yu wants it to take over. Intense storms are on the rise and cities across the world are finding it difficult to cope with deluges of floodwater. But instead of using high-tech, concrete-based engineering solutions to defend against […]
Read more »Transforming Community Centers and Churches Into Energy-Resilient Hubs
August 13th, 2024
Via BBC, a report on how one city’s efforts to build a network of solar and storage resilience hubs: As Tropical Storm Debby drenches the south-eastern US causing widespread power outages, a solution developed in New Orleans could offer an essential lifeline when the lights go out. On a Sunday in the Broadmoor neighbourhood of […]
Read more »California: Home To Millions of Urban Trees That Can Be Repurposed When They Die
August 13th, 2024
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a report on the reuse of dead urban trees: To stop California’s 6 million urban trees from knocking out power lines, crashing through houses, or lying across streets when they die, humans have to intervene. This week, a handful of arborists and Conservation Corps of Long Beach members gathered at a scrappy plot […]
Read more »How Auto Industry Could Steer The World Toward Green Steel
August 13th, 2024
Via MIT Technology Review, an article on green steel and potential for automakers to drive global uptake of this new material: Steel scaffolds our world, undergirding buildings and machines. It also presents a major challenge for climate change, since steel production largely relies on polluting fossil fuels. The automotive industry could be a key player […]
Read more »Extreme Weather Poses a Challenge for Heat Pumps
August 13th, 2024
Via Wired, a look at how stronger winds, bouts of extreme low temperature, and higher humidity pose difficult but surmountable challenges for heat pumps: Andreas Bangheri knows how to read the wind. He’s been hang gliding and piloting small aircraft around the mountains of his native Austria for years. And he can tell that things […]
Read more »Solar Panels Over Highways Could Significantly Cut Emissions and Boost Road Safety
August 12th, 2024
Via Energy Daily, a report on how solar panels over highways could significantly cut emissions and boost road safety Covering highways worldwide with solar panel roofs could greatly reduce carbon emissions and improve road safety, according to new research. This study, which assessed the costs and benefits of installing solar roofs over global highways, suggests […]
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.