Climate Risk Meets Finance: Modeling the Future of Real Estate with First Street

Climate Risk Meets Finance: Modeling the Future of Real Estate with First Street

Author: Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative April 29, 2026 Duration: 43:57
As climate risks intensify, understanding their financial implications is becoming critical for businesses, investors, and homeowners alike. Ed Kearns, Chief Science Officer at First Street, joins Climate Rising to explain how climate data is being translated into actionable financial risk insights. The conversation explores how First Street models physical climate risks—including flooding, wildfire, and extreme weather—and translates them into property-level financial impacts. Ed discusses why traditional tools like FEMA flood maps fall short in a changing climate, and how new approaches combine physics-based modeling with high-resolution data. The episode also examines how climate risk is reshaping real estate markets, insurance systems, and investment decisions, and why transparency is driving a fundamental shift in how risk is priced. Ed reflects on the growing demand for climate risk intelligence and the role of both private markets and public policy in adapting to a warming world.

Hosted by the Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative, Climate Rising moves beyond abstract warnings to examine the concrete realities facing companies today. Each episode features candid conversations with senior executives, policymakers, and HBS faculty, dissecting the operational and strategic choices that define a business's relationship to a warming planet. You’ll hear how leaders are navigating pressures from investors, customers, and regulators while making pivotal decisions on everything from supply chain logistics and new technology investments to long-term risk assessment and competitive positioning. This isn't a theoretical discussion; it's a ground-level look at the practical dilemmas and innovations shaping industries. The podcast delves into the nuanced trade-offs managers face, turning climate change from a looming threat into a series of actionable, if complex, business problems. For anyone curious about how the private sector is actually responding-the successes, the stalled efforts, and the evolving playbooks-this series offers an essential and sobering dialogue. Tune in for a direct line to the thinking that is quietly redrawing the corporate map.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Climate Rising
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