New York is a truly world-leading city. Finance, tech, education — the Big Apple has it all, and attracts talent from across the globe because of its well-earned status as the place where You Can Make It.

It now aspires to become the global epicenter for climate solutions, too. In this episode Stephen Hammer, CEO of the New York Climate Exchange, talks to Louie about this new cross-sector, multi-stakeholder center— intended to become the preeminent hub for climate mitigation and adaptation R&D in the world, not only when it comes to tech, but as it relates to public policy, education, and environmental justice, too. Just last week, the Exchange unveiled new renderings of the US$700mn, 400,000-square foot campus on Governors Island in New York Harbor that will be its home from 2029.

Stephen shares the Exchange's vision for transforming Governors Island and pushing the boundaries of climate innovation. He also touches on how the Exchange could contribute to New York's economic engine and act as another generator of jobs, expertise, and high-tech startups.

There's also a discussion on harnessing the "shiny new object" of AI for climate solutions, and as a way to attract talent into the climate space.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected].

How can philanthropy bridge the massive funding gap in climate adaptation?

In this episode, Clare Ballantine, Head of the Howden Foundation, and Isona Shibata, Head of International Programs at Ashden, unpack the role of philanthropic capital in building resilience for climate-vulnerable communities in the Global South.

They discuss the urgency of funding locally-led adaptation solutions, the power of anticipatory action, and how smart financial innovations — like micro parametric insurance — are protecting lives and livelihoods. Plus, a candid look at the challenges of attracting investment to adaptation and why philanthropy must embrace a venture capital mindset to make a difference.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected].

Everyone who's anyone in climate knows David Carlin.

David has been at the forefront of climate risk management and disclosure since the first rush of industry- and UN-led initiatives swept across the financial sector in the run-up to COP26.

Over many years working with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), he had a front row seat to how banks and institutional investors wrestled with the implications of climate change on their businesses and the wider economy.

Now, he's leading his own global consultancy focused on sustainability challenges: D. A. Carlin & Company. Together with his team, David is helping central banks, financial institutions, and entire governments get to grips with climate risk management and disclosure.

In this episode of Climate Proofers, David sits down with Louie to offer his candid assessment of the state of climate-related financial disclosures, and explain why he thinks mandated reporting alone isn't enough to drive essential action on adaptation and resilience.

He then digs into the evolving climate-financial regulatory landscape in light of the Trump administration's harsh attitude towards environmental programs and Europe's wide-ranging effort to streamline its own sustainability rules.

Beyond regulation, David shares his thoughts on market-driven shifts in the climate risk landscape, and his experiences working with climate risk startups including Climate X and Climate Aligned, offering his perspective on what makes for a successful company in this rapidly growing space.

Check out David's Sustainability Digest HERE.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

What makes a company an "adaptation play?"

It's a question Chris Goolgasian, Director of Climate Research and portfolio manager at the $1.2trn investment company Wellington Management, has devoted himself to in recent years.

Chris oversees an investment strategy focused on stocks that should thrive as the world works to become more climate resilient — particularly those from companies that are addressing key climate risks: heat, drought, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, water scarcity, and sea level rise.

In this episode, he describes Wellington's approach to adaptation investment, talks about the challenges distinguishing signal from noise when it comes to picking adaptation stocks, and the similarities and differences relative to climate transition investing.

Chris then also shares some of his long-term predictions for climate-driven shifts in the economy, from the rise of subsidized air conditioning to the future pricing of water. These mega-trends could make, or break, entire sectors of the economy. Now's the time to get wise to them.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

How can video games drive climate resilience? Could Minecraft and Fortnite teach kids (and adults) about adapting to extreme temperatures and other punishing climate risks?

Jorge Gastelumendi, Senior Director at the Atlantic Council's Climate Resilience Center, certainly thinks so. He joins Climate Proofers to talk about the newly renamed center, which has an exciting mission to reach one billion people with resilience solutions.

Sounds hard, right? Jorge breaks down the three strategic pillars of the center, and its work so far engaging with the video games industry and promoting Chief Heat Officers around the world.

He also shares his observations of a project close to his heart — Peru's National Carbon Registry — explaining how this sort of initiative can help restore credibility and integrity to carbon markets, which have potential to channel millions of dollars into adaptation and mitigation projects.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

While the Los Angeles fires continue to rage, the debate on what should be done — and indeed what can be done — to prepare and protect communities from these kinds of infernos is heating up.

The multiple blazes are also highlighting the frightening potential for fire risk to rip through the financial system, wrecking homeowners, insurers, and government budgets in the process.

In today's episode, Frank Frievalt, Director of the Wildland-Urban Interface FIRE Institute at Cal Poly, discusses the changing nature of wildfires and urban conflagrations under climate change, and the challenges mitigating their physical and financial risks.

Frank shares his professional insights on how the warming climate is contributing to fiercer fires and the difficulties motivating wildfire risk mitigation among vulnerable communities.

He also offers insights on the transmission mechanisms through which growing wildfire risks could spark a new financial crisis.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

There's one thing all adaptation professionals agree on — we need more climate data. And better climate data. And climate data people can trust.

But needing is one thing. Getting is another.

Julia Kumari Drapkin is pioneering a new way of collecting and analyzing climate risk data with her company ISeeChange. The startup gathers crowdsourced images and data from residents directly impacted by floods, storms, heat waves and the like, and transforms the pixels and bits into actionable information with its AI-powered software.

In this episode, she explains how this fusion of human- and AI-powered data yields insights that can inform the development of climate-resilient infrastructure and help finetune local climate risk responses.

Julia also opines on the importance of community engagement when it comes to climate-proofing neighborhoods, and how to build trust in climate risk communications.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

Climate adaptation technology isn't getting a lot of love from markets right now.

Extreme weather shocks may be on track to inflict some US$560bn or so of losses on listed companies every year by 2035, but so far very little early investor money is going into adaptation and resilience (A&R) solutions.

That's according to new analysis by Tailwind Climate, an adaptation-focused advisory and investment firm, which last week released a 112-page playbook on A&R tech and financing.

In this episode of Climate Proofers, Emilie Mazzacurati — Tailwind's Co-Founder — joins to discuss the playbook's contents, and some of its findings on government, consumer, and corporate spending on climate-proofing goods and activities.

She also shares what A&R solutions have got her excited, and ideas on how to unlock many more millions of dollars for startups and innovations in this space.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

"Climate change" is likely to become taboo under the second Trump administration. The incoming president believes global warming to be a "hoax", and Project 2025 – the right-wing blueprint for his second term – calls for erasing climate change references from absolutely everywhere.

​However, climate-related disasters will not go away just because the federal government refuses to accept their root causes. There is, and will continue to be, a need for policies, finance, and innovation to address climate impacts to communities and businesses, and to adapt to higher temperatures and more frequent weather extremes.

​How will climate adaptation and resilience evolve under the new administration? How could state and local governments step up to better climate-proof their constituents? And how might private investors and startups dedicated to adaptation and resilience adjust their strategies in a transformed policy space?

These questions and more were answered by an expert panel at the first Climate Proof Adaptation Salon, held in New York City on December 4. This edited recording of that conversation is bursting with insights and opinion on the path ahead, with a fair dose of optimism mixed in despite the rather ominous tone emanating from the Trump transition team.

Speakers:

​Sharai Lewis-Gruss, Co-owner and Principal, Two Degrees Adapt

​Jeff Schlegelmilch, Director at National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University

​Daniel Murphy, Risk & Resilience Specialist, World Economic Forum

​Stacy Swann, Resilient Earth Capital

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]

Wildfires are on the rampage across North America.

Canada and the US are battling blazes more often and for longer periods. This fall, wildfires have burnt on East and West Coasts alike. Even New York City, that vaunted concrete jungle, has succumbed.

The increase in frequency and ferocity of these disasters is one of climate change's most harrowing consequences, and is spurring governments and businesses to do more to fight back.

Today's Climate Proofer is part of this effort. Jonathan Bowers is the founder of Path & Focus, a Canada-based firetech company committed to improving access to actionable wildfire data and analytics.

He talks with Louie about the scale of the wildfire challenge in Canada, the value in making wildfire maps and simulations available to communities and government authorities at speed, and the gaps in the current firetech ecosystem.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at [email protected]