Fact of the Week: In Small Island Developing States, Repeated Instances of Hurricanes Lead to an Increase in Green Innovations

Source: Panagiotis Piperopoulos, et al., "Can Hurricanes Drive Green Innovations?" Journal of Environmental Management, (February 1, 2023).

Commentary: Climate change has led to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, to increase in occurrence, with the number of global natural disasters increasing 13-fold over the past 60 years. Hurricanes, in particular, are incredibly damaging, causing small island developing nations (SIDS) an average loss of up to 9 percent of GDP. In a paper by Panagiotis Piperopoulos et al., the relationship between the increasing threat of hurricanes and green innovation is examined. Green innovation includes producing technologies that reduce environmental risks and use resources thoughtfully. Researchers find that hurricanes have a U-shaped relationship with green innovation, suggesting that hurricanes negatively impact green innovation in the short run but positively impact green innovations in the long run.