Three Ideas to Beat the Heat, and the People Who Made Them Happen
June 26th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a look at how – as temperatures soar around the world – practical experiments are emerging to protect people: An app that helps people find relief from the heat. A tiny insurance policy that pays working women when temperatures soar. Local laws that help outdoor workers get water and shade […]
Read more »In Graphic Detail: As Sea Levels Rise, Insurance Retreats
June 20th, 2024
Courtesy of Hakai Magazine, an illustrated look at when insurance companies will call it quits on New Zealand’s coastal communities: West of New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, the coastal community of Muriwai, population 1,410, is well known for its black-sand beach, gannet colony, and relaxed vibe. But in February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the settlement. […]
Read more »Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing
June 17th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on how extreme weather threatens the investment value of many properties, but financing for climate mitigation efforts are only just getting going: Rising sea levels, biodiversity collapse, extreme weather—these are the grisly horsemen of climate apocalypse. But don’t forget the fretting loan officers. A study published earlier this year found that US mortgage […]
Read more »The Uninsurable World: How The Insurance Industry Fell Behind On Climate Change
June 8th, 2024
Courtesy of the Financial Times, a report on how the insurance industry fell behind on climate change : Half a century ago, one of the world’s leading reinsurers published a paper on floods, referencing ancient diluvial stories such as the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh, and urged better monitoring of “climatic variations”. The 1970s paper by […]
Read more »As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose
May 18th, 2024
Courtesy of The New York Times, a look at the climate change driven insurance crisis: At first glance, Dave Langston’s predicament seems similar to headaches facing homeowners in coastal states vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes: As disasters have become more frequent and severe, his insurance company has been losing money. Then, it canceled his coverage and […]
Read more »Homeowners Face $25T Bill from Climate Change
April 14th, 2024
Via The Economist, a report on the risk that climate change poses to property owners: The residents of northern Italy had never seen anything like the thunderstorm that mauled their region last summer. Hailstones as big as 19cm across pummelled Milan, Parma, Turin and Venice. Windows were broken, solar panels smashed, tiles cracked and cars dented. […]
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.