China: An Adaptation Advantage?
August 10th, 2023
Courtesy of The Wire China, a look at China’s efforts to mobilize to adapt and thrive in a rapidly warming world. If it succeeds, the geopolitical consequences will be profound. Is America ready? On an August day last year, Xi Jinping visited Saihanba National Forest Park to inspect the trees and flowers. Spanning nearly 200,000 acres northwest of […]
Read more »One of Europe’s Hottest Cities Rediscovers an Old Cooling Technique
August 9th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, a look at how one of Europe’s hottest cities has revitalized an old cooling technique: The streets of Seville in southern Spain were so hot that July afternoon that it felt almost impossible to walk outdoors. As temperatures approached 42C (108F), people scrambled to find shelter in air-conditioned homes, offices and public buildings. […]
Read more »Japan’s Creative Cooling Solutions
August 9th, 2023
Via BBC Travel, a look at a wealth of cooling solutions, from high-tech underwear to ancient philosophies, on a journey round Japan: When our iPhones alerted us that the temperature had crept past 37C, we paused. Every sun-drenched step outside felt like we were wagyu steaks sizzling on the grill. Was honeymooning in Japan in July – […]
Read more »As Indian Cities Heat Up, Climate-Resilient Traditional Buildings Return
August 4th, 2023
Via Eco Business, a look at how – as Indian cities heat up – climate-resilient traditional buildings are coming into fashion: If the pandemic triggered eco-consciousness in A. Krishnan, a Chennai-based software professional, the heat waves of April and May and the floods that followed made him into a total sustainability convert. In Chennai, the […]
Read more »Innovative Cooling Solutions for Overheated Cities
August 3rd, 2023
Via Inhabitat, a look at some innovative solutions for overheated cities: With climate change ramping up and an El Nino weather pattern in effect for the western hemisphere, heat island effect has become a real problem for cities sweltering under the summer sun. GAF created a product called Streetbond Pavement Coating that aims to turn that heat […]
Read more »US Cities Are Suffocating In The Heat. Now They Want Retribution
August 2nd, 2023
Via The Guardian, an article on how Baltimore is suing major oil and gas companies for spurring the climate crisis and the rising temperatures that have an outsized impact on low-income, urban areas: For years, an elderly man stood as a regular fixture around his East Baltimore neighborhood for the way he would wander the streets […]
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.