Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts – History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy – International Development), Monty Simus’s professional career has taught him the necessity of leveraging cross-border experiences to accelerate the development and globalization of companies. Monty has more than fifteen of experience with a number of the world’s leading technology, enterprise software, Internet services, telecommunications, financial services, and energy corporations, and has lived, worked, and traveled in more than thirty countries spanning Africa, China, western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast & Central Asia. Monty’s interests comprise economic development, policy, investment, technology, natural resources, and the environment, with a particular focus on globalization’s impact upon these subject areas.
'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.