How ‘Super Roofs’ Reward Insurers, Cat Bond Investors and Homeowners
December 1st, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a look at novel program run by North Carolina’s insurer of last resort that incentivizes homeowners to install roofs that can stand up to extreme winds: North Carolina has issued a $600 million catastrophe bond to fund disaster preparedness and reward homeowners for installing “super roofs” that are resistant to wind damage. The […]
Read more »Climate ‘Shock’ Is Eroding Some Home Values. New Data Shows How Much.
November 19th, 2025
Via New York Times, a look at how climate ‘shock’ is eroding home values: Even after she escaped rising floodwaters by wading away from her home in chest-deep water during Hurricane Rita in 2005, Sandra Rojas, now 69, stayed put. A fifth-generation resident of Lafitte, La., a small coastal community, she raised her home with […]
Read more »Concrete Could Turn Your House Into A Battery
November 19th, 2025
Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at how the amount of concrete that goes into an average American home’s basement wall could hold enough energy to meet the daily needs of the household: After water, concrete is the most-used material in the world. And now, researchers have given this ubiquitous building material super powers. A Massachusetts […]
Read more »China Wants Electric Cars To Feed Power Back To The Grid
November 17th, 2025
Via Rest of World, a look at how the world’s largest EV fleet could become a giant battery network if economic and technical hurdles are overcome: China plans 5,000 bidirectional charging stations by 2027. Early trials offer drivers up to $200 monthly in electricity buyback credits. High infrastructure costs and state pricing threaten commercial viability. […]
Read more »How Cities Can Combat Extreme Heat Using Nature-Based Solutions
November 17th, 2025
Via Development Asia, a look at how cities can combat extreme heat using nature-based solutions: Extreme heat is an invisible but increasingly tangible climate risk. It varies by time and place and has wide-reaching but unequal impacts, particularly to women and vulnerable people. As global temperatures rise, extreme heat events (heat waves) are becoming more […]
Read more »Photoluminescent Radiative Cooling for Aesthetic and Urban Comfort
October 26th, 2025
Via Nature, a new article examining the potential of passive radiative cooling to reduce carbon emissions in space cooling by simultaneously reflecting sunlight and emitting thermal radiation: Passive radiative cooling offers a sustainable solution to reduce carbon emissions in space cooling by simultaneously reflecting sunlight and emitting thermal radiation. However, the super-white property of conventional […]
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.