What Cities Can Teach Countries About Tackling Climate Change
August 14th, 2023 Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a look at how urban areas have made more progress than national governments on climate change—and offer a compelling political roadmap: Unprecedented heatwaves, storms, [...]
Creating ‘Sponge Cities’ Needn’t Cost Billions
August 14th, 2023 Via The Conversation, an article on the urgent need for sponge cities in New Zealand: Tune into news from about any part of the planet, and there will likely be a headline about extreme weather. [...]
America’s Hottest City Is Nearly Unlivable in Summer. Can Cooling Technologies Save It?
August 13th, 2023 Via The Guardian, a look at how Phoenix’s new ‘heat tsar’ is betting on less asphalt, more green canopy and reflective surfaces to cool the sprawling heat island:   A surge in heat-related [...]
RainReady: Helping Communities Find Solutions to The Problem of Urban Flooding
August 12th, 2023 The RainReady program in Chicago aims to enlist residents in creating green infrastructure like permeable pavement and rain gardens that can reduce flooding in hard-hit neighborhoods, including by [...]
A Tree Grows in Birmingham
August 12th, 2023 Via Inside Climate News, a report on how one Southern community aims to plant its way into the Alabama shade: Sometimes Thomasine Jackson can’t get to work.  Jackson, 65, said if there’s been a [...]
On the Highway to Climate Hell
August 11th, 2023 Via Foreign Policy, a look at how the world’s infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists: Countries have spent decades building critical infrastructure that is now buckling [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.