A First-of-its-Kind Project Is Tapping Energy Beneath The Group To Heat and Cool Homes
January 20th, 2025
Via CNN, a report on a first-of-its kind project is tapping energy beneath the ground to heat and cool homes: Eric Mauchan’s Cape Cod-style house in Framingham, Massachusetts, does not have central air conditioning. So when the summer heat bears down, his four window AC units, two dehumidifiers and fans that keep the 2,600-square-foot home […]
Read more »Hard Truth: India’s Coasts Are Eroding As States Fail To Plan Properly
January 20th, 2025
Via Dialogue Earth, a report on how hard structures are still being built for erosion control in India, despite a national court ruling against them: Arichal Munai Beach lies at the eastern tip of Rameswaram Island, in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state, just past the abandoned village of Dhanushkodi. Looking out onto the Gulf of […]
Read more »Los Angeles Needs to Fireproof Communities, Not Just Houses
January 16th, 2025
Via Wired, a look at how – after the devastation of the Los Angeles fires – officials are ready to rebuild. But defending against future fires requires thinking about more than buildings. As houses continue to burn in Los Angeles, officials have already started talking about rebuilding the city. “We’re going to rebuild this remarkable community […]
Read more »Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience
January 15th, 2025
Via Impact Alpha, a look at one investor focused on financing climate adaptation and resilience: When Jay Koh cofounded The Lightsmith Group in 2016, few people were talking about the need to invest in solutions to help people adapt to a changing climate. Eight years later, “climate adaptation” is the topic du jour. The dark […]
Read more »The Ordinary Ceiling Fan May Be an Extraordinary Cooling Solution
January 8th, 2025
As global temperatures rise, ceiling fans are essential for millions who lack access to air conditioning. In India, for example, nearly 90% of households use ceiling fans. By 2038, an estimated 950 million fans will be installed across the country — more than double the number in 2017. Adopting super-efficient ceiling fans on a large […]
Read more »Urban Forests: Planting The Wrong Trees In the Wrong Places Can Diminish Cooling Benefits
January 8th, 2025
Via Anthropocene Magazine, commentary on the first comprehensive global study of the effect of trees on urban temperature, in which researchers discovered that in hot, compact cities, narrow species and sparse planting strategies work best: Urban trees need to be planted strategically to maximize their ability to help keep cities cool, according to a new […]
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.