July 18th, 2023
Only 3% of Earth’s surface is occupied by cities. But they are responsible for 70% of global CO2 emissions.
Cities rely heavily on Earth’s systems to support urban life. Fertile soils enable food production. Rivers, lakes and oceans enable transport and provide core resources. Forests regulate and purify water supplies while protecting against flooding. Nature broadly provides a space for leisure and wonderment fundamental to human wellbeing. The planetary boundaries outline a framework for humanity to operate within the limits of the Earth.
This report, ‘Designing for planetary boundary cities’, is based on the safety rails established by the Stockholm Resilience Centre’s Planetary Boundary Framework. It sets out 20 regenerative actions to help us achieve sustainable development while restoring natural systems.
'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.