The Weekly: Takeaways from 2025’s Climate Disasters
Twenty-three billion-dollar disasters, $115 billion in damage, and not one hurricane: 2025 was a masterclass in how climate risk in the U.S. has changed.
What 2025’s Costliest Disasters Mean for U.S. Real Estate, Insurance, and Public Infrastructure
Twenty-three billion-dollar weather and climate disasters struck the United States in 2025, revealing important takeaways for decision-makers in the real estate, public infrastructure, and insurance sectors.
States Should Not Become Reinsurers of Last Resort
States are making a mistake by using public reinsurance mechanisms to address rising insurance costs. Legislators should invest in climate resilience and risk reduction rather than transfer risk to taxpayers and ignore the underlying drivers of catastrophic insurance losses.
Active Construction Sites Are Climate Risk Blind Spots: Lessons from Hurricane Ian
In an interview with The Epicenter, Joe Rozza of Ryan Companies explains what happens when a major storm hits mid-construction and why CRE leaders should give as much weight to their works in process as they do to projects on either end of the building spectrum.
The Weekly: Climate Migration and the Resilience Belt
Extreme weather events and a changing climate are reshaping long-term housing affordability across America. The result is a migration pattern that would have shocked demographers a decade ago: people are leaving the Sun Belt and heading to the Rust Belt.
Latest
The Weekly: Takeaways from 2025’s Climate Disasters
Twenty-three billion-dollar disasters, $115 billion in damage, and not one hurricane: 2025 was a masterclass in how climate risk in the U.S. has changed.
The Weekly: The Risky Rise of State-Backed Reinsurance
Property insurance markets across the U.S. are under strain as premiums rise and insurers pull back from high-risk regions. In response, a growing number of states are leaning on public and quasi-public reinsurance backstops.
The Weekly: The Data Story Behind America’s Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters
Climate resilience is most visible in physical defenses and materials, but it relies on information infrastructure.
The Weekly: Why Construction Sites Need Resilience Planning
Most conversations about climate resilience in commercial real estate development happen when designing new structures to withstand future storms or when repairing or retrofitting existing ones after disaster strikes. Far less attention is paid to the in-between stage: the active construction site.
The Weekly: The Real Infrastructure Behind the Cloud
From hurricane- and flood-prone coasts to Tornado Alley spanning the central U.S., the map of American data centers increasingly resembles a target board for extreme weather.
The Weekly: When Rainy Day Funds Run Dry
Two trends are colliding in state finance offices: Emergency, or “rainy day,” funds are shrinking at the exact moment climate-related revenue losses are mounting.
The Weekly: The Messy Math of Wildfire Mitigation Discounts
A recent analysis of the private market from Insurance for Good found that premium discounts for home hardening vary immensely, and often aren’t tied to the actual potential impact on losses.
The Weekly: New York City’s Blueprint for Flood Resilience
Last week, New York City experienced another round of flash flooding thanks to a violent downpour, highlighting a thorny question: When do you harden infrastructure against stormwater, and when do you work with it?
Hazard briefings
Preparing for Multiple Disasters
Unexpected disasters are causing damage in unlikely places, forcing decision-makers in the public and private sectors to prepare for the most common disasters in their region as well as the rare, once-in-a-hundred-year ones. But strategies exist to help decision-makers prepare for the unexpected.
Earthquakes: Cost Drivers and Opportunities to Fortify Assets
Across the U.S., the average annual total costs of earthquakes is $14.7 billion, with the average earthquake costing between $1.5 to $3 billion. Adopting the latest seismic resilience codes can make buildings more earthquake-resistant and financial instruments can help communities rebuild quickly.
Winter Storms: The Cost Drivers and Associated Opportunities For Investors
There are no silver bullet solutions for the private sector to adopt to dramatically reduce the costs of winter storms. The biggest lever to bring costs down exists in modernizing and winterizing the grid—an endeavor that will require substantial technological, mechanical, and financial investments.
Severe Storms: Opportunities To Reduce the Costs
In just a few hours, a severe storm can cause billions worth of damage. Three levers offer opportunities to enhance resiliency and reduce the costs of severe storms: 1) Invest in more resilient roofing; 2) Adopt more resilient construction practices; 3) Invest in new innovations and technologies.
Public finance
The Weekly: The Risky Rise of State-Backed Reinsurance
Property insurance markets across the U.S. are under strain as premiums rise and insurers pull back from high-risk regions. In response, a growing number of states are leaning on public and quasi-public reinsurance backstops.
The Weekly: When Rainy Day Funds Run Dry
Two trends are colliding in state finance offices: Emergency, or “rainy day,” funds are shrinking at the exact moment climate-related revenue losses are mounting.
