Author Archives: Laurie

Derailment doom loops and Trump as the first post-1.5°C president | New Climate Reality

Another example of how the consequences of climate change impact our ability to tackle its causes No one should be surprised that climate change played a role in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. What remains to be seen is whether this tragedy will spur action to stem the spiraling climate crisis. The prospects for that do notContinue reading “Derailment doom loops and Trump as the first post-1.5°C president | New Climate Reality”

Coverage: Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature

The latest report from the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) – ‘Planetary Solvency: finding our balance with nature’ – covers our work on derailment risk. This report considers the risks to the global economic outputs from climate breakdown and ecological collapse—concluding we could be at risk of a a 50% loss in GDPContinue reading “Coverage: Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature”

Could the consequences of climate change frustrate our ability to tackle its causes?

I wrote an article on what derailment risk means for financial institutions for the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFOA), co-authored with Ben Shread-Hewitt, the researcher at the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative. The original article is here. — For over a year, Zambia has been suffering its worst drought in a century. In a climate-changedContinue reading “Could the consequences of climate change frustrate our ability to tackle its causes?”

Pathways to the transformation of economic systems: lessons from the trenches

I wrote a report for the United Nations Develop Programme’s (UNDP) Strategic Innovation Unit on pathways to transforming economic systems. You can read it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1um26K0GMMNCbQ1s1XQpJAvPKG3u6fSZZZj3mJIsu0BQ/edit?tab=t.0. A short blog post about this UNDP project can be read here: https://medium.com/@undp.innovation/charting-pathways-to-the-transformation-of-economic-systems-dd1091ea8d08.

Interview: Costs Pile Up As Climate Change Adds $600 Billion In Insurance Losses

I was interviewed by David Vetter at Forbes about risks to the insurance industry from climate change. You can read the article here. “Because insurance impacts are mounting and because we don’t have an insurance system built for the way that climate change is evolving, this dynamic is only going to get much worse,” LaybournContinue reading “Interview: Costs Pile Up As Climate Change Adds $600 Billion In Insurance Losses”

A ‘doom loop’ of climate change and geopolitical instability is beginning

I wrote an article on derailment risk for the Conversation, co-authored with Dr James Dyke at the University of Exeter. The original article is here. — It is a common refrain to say that geopolitics gets in the way of climate action. From the war in Ukraine to trade tensions, each year seems to bringContinue reading “A ‘doom loop’ of climate change and geopolitical instability is beginning”

Interview: Organising the Future

I was interviewed by Andrew Parry, Head of Investments at J O Hambro Capital Management and Regnant, on the Organising the Future podcast. We talked about how climate change pose a threat to national security, the cascading impacts of climate change on global systems, and why current economic models are inadequate for assessing risks.