India Plans Air Conditioner Temperature Rules to Save Power
June 11th, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a report that India plans to establish air conditioner temperature rules to save power: India is working with appliance makers to standardize the cooling range of air conditioners to ensure that the minimum temperature is not set below 20C (68F), in an effort to cut the energy use of these power guzzlers. The […]
Read more »India Needs To Turn the Air Conditioning On
June 10th, 2025
Via The Economist, an article on India’s heat and air pollution issues: AT THE END of March the India Meteorological Department predicted a warmer-than-usual April, the first month of India’s hot season. The forecast was soon proved right: in the first week of April temperatures in big cities were 3°C above normal. By the second, Delhi […]
Read more »Can India Be Cool?
June 10th, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on how India must both promote and prepare for a surge in air-conditioners: MORE EXTREME, less liveable heat is inevitable for India. Last year was the hottest ever recorded there, with some places seeing temperatures in excess of 50°C. Ten of the country’s 15 warmest years on record have occurred […]
Read more »The Jakarta Parable: Reimagining Urban Areas In A Warming Planet
June 3rd, 2025
Via Forbes, a look at how urban areas will have to be reimagined in a warming world: As climate risks intensify — rising seas, extreme heat, and ever-more-frequent storms—cities are being forced to confront a new reality. For centuries, urban centers have been magnets for people, capital, and innovation. Now, they are on the frontlines […]
Read more »India: Overlooking Climate Drag On Its Economic Growth
May 31st, 2025
Courtesy of The Financial Times, commentary on how India is overlooking the climate drag on its economic growth: The November COP29 summit ended predictably: a last-minute, watered-down commitment to support developing countries in their urgent climate adaptation efforts was delivered. India’s delegate then led the equally predictable outcry with a fiery diatribe against the paltry […]
Read more »The Wealthy California Town That Can’t Get Rid of Water Fast Enough
May 15th, 2025
Via SFGate, a report on a city slipping into the ocean: Every day, Rancho Palos Verdes inches closer to destruction. The beleaguered Southern California city, which is southwest of downtown Los Angeles and hugs the waterline between Redondo Beach and San Pedro, is quite literally sliding into the ocean, sometimes at a rate of 4 inches per week. […]
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.