Three Ideas to Beat the Heat, and the People Who Made Them Happen
June 26th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a look at how – as temperatures soar around the world – practical experiments are emerging to protect people: An app that helps people find relief from the heat. A tiny insurance policy that pays working women when temperatures soar. Local laws that help outdoor workers get water and shade […]
Read more »Could the Global Boom in Greenhouses Help Cool the Planet?
June 20th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a look at how – as agricultural greenhouses proliferate – researchers are finding that their reflective roofs are having a cooling effect. Some experts see this as an unintended experiment with lessons for cooling cities, but others point to the environmental damage that greenhouses can cause: The world is awash with greenhouses […]
Read more »$10B Bezos Earth Fund Director: ‘Next Wave’ In Green Finance Is Climate Adaptation
June 20th, 2024
Via GreenBiz, a report that the ‘next wave’ in green finance is climate adaptation, particularly resilience to warming temperatures and phasing down fossil fuels: Corporations and investors are doing a first-rate job of investing in clean energy, according to Paul Bodnar, director of sustainable finance, industry and diplomacy at the Bezos Earth Fund. But the […]
Read more »A New Textile Designed To Combat Urban Heat Island Effect Cools Down by 16+ Degrees
June 20th, 2024
Via Fast Company, a report on a new textile was designed to combat the urban heat island effect, reflecting both the sun’s heat and the heat that bounces off of buildings and streets: When a heat wave hits a city, the sidewalks, roads, and buildings end up making the air feel even hotter. Thanks to the urban […]
Read more »Harnessing Nature To Cool Cities: Parks For Tomorrow
June 18th, 2024
Via Harvard Magazine, an article on how nature can help cool cities: IN 2009, Bas Smets walked across an old industrial plaza in Arles, France. Entirely concrete, the space posed a problem. The area was being transformed into a large art complex, but in the intense summer sun, the ground reflected the heat, doubly baking […]
Read more »Can Mirrors Help Fight Extreme Urban Heat?
June 18th, 2024
Via BBC, a look at the potential for mirrors to help fight the threat of extreme heat: When the inside of your home feels as hot as an oven, it can be impossible to cope. During the dry season, that was the daily reality for Khadija Kamara, living in the Kroo Bay settlement of Freetown, […]
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.