The Role of Home Equity in Flood Insurance Demand

As millions of homes in the U.S. are exposed to increasing flood risks, the lack of insurance coverage can threaten the sustainability of the mortgage system as we know it. Yanjun (Penny) Liao and Philip Mulder share insights from their recent paper “What’s at Stake? Understanding the Role of Home Equity in Flood Insurance Demand”.Read More

Encouraging Resiliency With Auto-Enrollment in Supplemental Flood Insurance Coverage

Can private insurance encourage homeowners to adapt their properties in order to reduce escalating flood losses from climate change? A recent study finds substantial demand for a novel supplementary flood insurance product that funds low-cost adaptations to reduce future damage when rebuilding after a flood—and shows that auto-enrollment increases that demand.Read More

Washington DC’s Environmental Impact Bond – A Q&A with Benjamin Cohen

The city of Washington DC’s Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) offering, the first of its kind within the United States, presents a new blueprint for capitalizing municipal resilience projects while better managing the risk associated with severe storms and flooding. Alison Milman, a UPenn Undergrad, speaks to Benjamin Cohen from Quantified Ventures about this EIB.Read More

How to Overcome Cognitive Biases Against Climate Action

Originally in The Hill, Risk Center Co-Directors, Howard Kunreuther and Robert Meyer, discuss cognitive biases, like myopia and inertia, that prevent people from taking climate action like investing in solar power in this op-ed.Read More

Racial Justice without Environmental Justice is No Justice at All

Lexie Shah, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, offers an overview of multiple environmental justice challenges and suggests needed policy shifts at the federal, state, and local levels to help overcome them.Read More

Emergency Management in Philadelphia: a Q&A with Adam Thiel

As the sixth largest city in the United States, Philadelphia faces a myriad of risks. Last fall we sat down with Adam Thiel, Director of the Office of Emergency Management of the City of Philadelphia, to learn more about his role with our home city. Read More