Using AI to Combat Floods, Wildfires and Extreme Heat
October 25th, 2023
Via Google, a look at some AI tools and technologies helping communities around the world address the effects of climate change: From experiencing the hottest summer on record to dealing with frequent and devastating floods and wildfires, the effects of climate change are already here and impacting all of us — particularly the most vulnerable […]
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 »Why Someday We May Be Storing Carbon in Sidewalks
July 26th, 2023
Via The Washington Post, a report on two tech companies just demonstrated that it’s possible to take CO2 from the air and store it in concrete: There is a big climate problem right under your feet. Manufacturing the cement that goes into sidewalks, driveways and other structures accounts for about 8 percent of global carbon […]
Read more »Financial Models On Climate Risk ‘Implausible’, Say Actuaries
July 4th, 2023
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on the limitations of financial models currently used for climate risk: Financial institutions often did not understand the models they were using to predict the economic cost of climate change and were underestimating the risks of temperature rises, research led by a professional body of actuaries shows. Many […]
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.