April 16, 2020 Erin St. Peter As California begins its wildfire season, the question of how we pay for the damages and assist households and communities with their recovery becomes ever more critical. Wildfires are increasing in size and impact across the United States. According to data from the National…Read More
ESG Initiative News
Announcing the 2020 Total Impact Portfolio Challenge Finals
The ESG Initiative at the Wharton School News Announcing the 2020 Total Impact Portfolio Challenge Finals The Total Impact Portfolio Challenge is a year-long, graduate student impact investing competition produced in collaboration by Wharton Social Impact Initiative and Total Impact. Students from graduate schools around the country show how they…Read More A Token Design for Decentralized Insurance on the Blockchain
March 6, 2020 Alexander Braun and Niklas Haeusle Imagine you are a smallholder paddy field farmer. Your crops are vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods or droughts, even more so in the face of climate change. Since your entire existence depends on the integrity of your crops, you would…Read More
Accessing Disaster Recovery Assistance Requires a Map and Compass
Accessing Disaster Recovery Assistance Requires a Map and Compass Reese May Disaster recovery in America is complicated. Headlines abound with tales of systemic, interminable delay in delivering long term recovery assistance to impacted communities. In the intervening period, vulnerable survivors manage their best to stay afloat, often for years, with…Read More
Introducing 13 Social Impact Leaders Receiving Loan Forgiveness Awards in 2020
The ESG Initiative at the Wharton School News Introducing 13 Social Impact Leaders Receiving Loan Forgiveness Awards in 2020 The Wharton Social Impact Initiative is pleased to announce the 2020 recipients of the John M. Bendheim Loan Forgiveness Fund for Public Service. These 13 Bendheim Fellows are examples of Wharton…Read More
Three Leaders in Business, Government, and Nonprofit to Discuss How to Solve the World’s Biggest Problems
The ESG Initiative at the Wharton School News Three Leaders in Business, Government, and Nonprofit to Discuss How to Solve the World’s Biggest Problems The Turner Social Impact Executive Speaker Series is pleased to welcome Antony Bugg-Levine, Valerie Jarrett, and Dalia Wilson-Scott to the Wharton School. On February 25th, Penn…Read More
Flood Insurance in the US: Lessons from FEMA’s Recent Data Release (Part II)
January 22, 2020 Jacob Bradt and Carolyn Kousky This is part II of a two-part series. Out of all natural disasters in the United States, floods are responsible for the most damage. To ensure sufficient funding for repair and rebuilding post-flood, households need flood insurance. At the beginning of last…Read More
Flood Insurance in the US: Lessons from FEMA’s Recent Data Release (Part I)
January 14, 2020 Jacob Bradt and Carolyn Kousky This is part I of a two-part series. Out of all natural disasters in the United States, floods are responsible for the most damage. To ensure sufficient funding for repair and rebuilding post-flood, households need flood insurance. While there is a small,…Read More
Climate-Related Muni Bond Risk: A Q&A with Breckinridge Capital Advisors
January 8, 2020 Erin St. Peter There is increasing apprehension about the potential impacts of climate change on municipal bond markets. As highlighted in a recent Barron’s article, BlackRock cautions that within ten years, 15% of the S&P National Municipal Bonds Index will come from cities and towns estimated to…Read More
Characteristics of Resilient Cities and the Positive Impacts of Building Codes
November 26, 2019 Kevin M. Simmons and Jeffrey Czajkowski Hurricanes and tornadoes are newsworthy because these storms have the potential to disrupt communities with casualties and high economic losses. Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that natural disasters have caused more than $1.7 trillion in losses…Read More