If These Walls Could Cool
June 11th, 2025   As summer begins here in the Northern Hemisphere, staying cool is on everyone’s mind. And with cities around the world getting warmer each year, specialized paints that keep buildings cool [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
High-Rise Forests: ‘A Home For Trees and Birds, and Also Humans”
June 10th, 2025 Via BBC, a look at how high-rise forests can transform city life: It’s been 10 years since the creation of the first vertical forest, Milan’s Bosco Verticale. How has it inspired other [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]

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.