‘If 1.5m Germans Have Them There Must Be Something In It’: How Balcony Solar Is Taking Off
December 19th, 2024
Via The Guardian, a report on balcony solar panels which can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clear: They are easy to install, and knock chunks off electricity bills. It may not be Romeo and Juliet, but Spain’s balcony […]
Read more »Turning Windows Into Solar Panels
December 18th, 2024
Via China Water Risk, an interesting look at how windows can become transparent solar panels? Imagine skyscrapers as ‘vertical solar farms? See-through solar panels aren’t just a pipe dream: Transparent solar panels look like clear glass & let light through like regular windows but they absorb ultraviolet & infrared light and turn these into renewable […]
Read more »Roof Greening In Cities Offers Significant Carbon Sink Potential
December 9th, 2024
Via Terra Daily, a report on how roof greening in Chinese cities offers significant carbon sink potential: Chinese cities, accounting for approximately 85% of the nation’s carbon emissions, face a pressing need for innovative solutions to reduce urban CO2 levels. Conventional emission reduction measures alone fall short of addressing the challenge given China’s rapid economic […]
Read more »Dubai To Be Transformed Into Pedestrian-Friendly City Under New Masterplan
December 8th, 2024
Via The National News, a look at Dubai’s strategy to create more than 3,000km of pedestrian paths as part of major adaptation strategy: Dubai on Saturday announced a major project to transform the emirate into a “year-round pedestrian-friendly city”, with more than 3,000 kilometres of walkways and 110 new bridges and tunnels. Dubai Walk Master Plan, […]
Read more »The Great Green Building Makeover
December 6th, 2024
Via Knowable Magazine, a look at how getting our homes and workplaces to be energy efficient has major benefits — but not when it is done one window at a time. Here’s why deep retrofits and biomaterials are key to more sustainable living: Eat less meat, fly less, don’t use plastic: The changes we […]
Read more »To Cope with Extreme Heat, Paris Will Swap Parking Spaces for Trees
November 19th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a report on Paris’s plan to swap parking spaces for trees: Paris aims to replace 60,000 parking spaces across the city with trees by the end of this decade, according to its newly released climate plan. The plan, which must still be approved by the Council of Paris, lays out steps to help […]
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.