City Trees Save Lives
May 9th, 2024
Via Wired, a look at new research which suggests more trees could cut heat-related ER visits in LA by up to two-thirds: The humble tree has long protected humans from sickness and even death—and in the modern city, it’s still doing so. As global temperatures rise, so too does the “urban heat island effect”—the tendency […]
Read more »Push for Mass Timber As a Sustainable Housing Solution
May 8th, 2024
Via CT NPR, an article on the push for mass timber as a sustainable housing solution in New England: In a remodeled furniture factory-turned-apartment building in New Haven, Connecticut, the walls and ceiling are all yellow pine, harvested from Alabama. “So here we are, let’s come into the bedroom,” Jeff Spiritos, the developer, said on […]
Read more »Radical Adaptation: Transforming Cities for a Climate Changed World
May 7th, 2024
Via Noema, commentary on society’s tendency to keep rebuilding (and subsidizing) areas that are all but certain to flood again, to burn again, to fall into the ocean? It’s time to rethink climate adaptation, with retreat as the first step: In the months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans proposed a flood control program unlike any […]
Read more »Spreading Roots: Urban Forests Link Cities With Nature
May 7th, 2024
Via Climate Foresight, a look at how architects and planners are increasingly concerned with integrating green systems that ensure the well-being of urban communities into their projects: Forests, street trees, parks and gardens form a complex and interconnected system whose benefits go far beyond aesthetics. If properly managed they can play a vital role in […]
Read more »The One Thing That’s Holding Back the Heat Pump
May 6th, 2024
Via Wired, a look at the impact of a shortage of trained workers to install heat pumps for full-tilt decarbonization: If billionaires actually cared about saving the planet, they’d pool their vast wealth and buy everyone a heat pump. Instead of burning planet-warming fossil fuels, these appliances extract warmth from even freezing outdoor air and transfer […]
Read more »To Make Greener Buildings, Try Innovating around the Edges
May 6th, 2024
Via Yale Insights, a report on the role that making buildings more energy-efficient can play in fighting the climate crisis: “If you care about climate change, you have to care about buildings,” said Jessica Bailey, CEO of Nuveen Green Capital. Her work scaling a financing mechanism called C-PACE (Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy) has helped building […]
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.