climate adaptation

Eugene, OR, Reduces Energy Consumption & Carbon Footprint

Even as its population grows, Eugene, OR is decreasing its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, setting an example for cities nationwide. A 2013 progress report on the city's Community Climate and Energy Action Plan highlighted progress toward key goals on energy and fossil fuel use, land use and transportation, climate adaptation and community resilience, and other areas.

>> View the Progress Report (pdf)

Earth Day Focus: 20 Cities & Counties Leading on Climate Resilience

Earth Day is the perfect moment to focus on the biggest emerging environmental issue in 2013: the need for more resilient communities that can bounce back from destructive extreme weather fueled by climate change.

ICLEI USA is getting things started with our fact sheet on 20 cities and counties taking the lead on resilience -- from Atlanta to El Paso to San Diego. Read about how extreme weather impacts them, and what they're doing in response to keep their communities strong. What is your community doing to create resilience? To learn more about what actions local government can take and how ICLEI can help, visit our Climate Adaptation page.

Get the Fact Sheet (pdf)

What Is a Resilient Community?

A resilient community is able to bounce back from disruptions—-climate, energy, economic-—in a sustainable way and maintain a good quality of life for all.

Broward County Incorporates Climate Change into Plans, Targets 'Adaptation Action Areas'

Photo credit: Robert DeMeo via Wikimedia Commons

Broward County, FL, is strengthening its commitment to community resilience and climate action, and in the process pioneering innovations in climate adaptation planning. In February 2013, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners adopted a Climate Change Element as part of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, and also updated the County's Land Use Plan with a climate amendment.

Mayor Kristin Jacobs noted that “the development of this element has been a two-year effort to address climate mitigation and adaptation in our planning documents. Broward continues to provide leadership in taking steps to recognize the consequences of climate change in our community and to adopt policies to reduce risk and enhance our resilience to sea level rise.”

The Climate Element includes a broad range of policies that will protect residents, businesses, and key infrastructure from extreme weather and rising sea levels, and take smart steps to lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Adaptation Action Areas

One of the most noteworthy is Policy 19.3.13, which states that "Broward County shall by 2017, work with its local municipalities to designate Adaptation Action Areas, per Florida State Law, using a Priority Planning Areas for Sea Level Rise Map (right, click to view larger map) as a basis for identifying areas especially vulnerable to sea level rise, in order to develop policies for adaptation and enhance the funding potential of infrastructure adaptation projects."

Broward is the first local government in Florida to amend its comprehensive plan to provide for the Adaptation Action Areas designation.

A separate policy in the updated Land Use Plan will "evaluate plan amendments within Priority Planning Areas for Sea Level Rise and strongly discourage those amendments which would place additional residential and non-residential development at risk of flooding from sea level rise."

Nominate a Community Resilience Leader as a 'Champion of Change'

Hurry! This Friday, March 8 is the deadline to nominate a friend of colleague to be a "Champion of Change" for their work to create a more resilient community. Here's the announcement from the White House CEQ:

The White House Champions of Change program highlights the stories and examples of citizens across the country who are “Winning the Future” with projects and initiatives that move their communities forward.

This April, the White House Council on Environmental Quality will host a Champions of Change event for citizen, business, and community leaders who are working to prepare their cities and towns for the unavoidable consequences of climate change. We are asking for your help to identify those you consider to be Community Resilience Leaders and “Champions of Change.” These individuals are innovators and creative thinkers working tirelessly to ensure community resilience in the face of costly climate-related impacts. We want to recognize and learn from these leaders and share climate preparedness strategies that will protect generations to come and create a more resilient and prosperous America today, one community at a time.

>> Learn More

What the National Climate Assessment Means for Local Governments

Have you perused the Draft National Climate Assessment (NCA) yet? Consider this 1,000-page report an invaluable resource for your local government -- a gold mine of information and insight. The Assessment can help guide your planning and policy efforts, build the case for action on adaptation and resilience, and even help you create a better sustainability or climate action plan.

View the Draft Assessment

Submit Comments (deadline April 12)

In Hottest Year on Record, a Wake Up Call for Cities and Counties

It’s official: Today NOAA announced that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the continental United States, and the second most extreme year on record in terms of severe weather events. Nearly two dozen U.S. cities broke or tied their maximum temperature records.

A powerful way to make sense of this historic year and what it means for our nation and our future is to zoom in and examine the impacts of extreme weather at the community level, where we can see first-hand how a warming world is affecting our safety, our health, and our economic well-being. It's also where we find immediate solutions. As Sandy taught us, local governments are the first responders after storms destroy infrastructure—or heat waves roast apartment buildings, or floodwaters inundate main street. And they are responsible not just for emergency response but proactive planning to create more prepared, resilient communities.

Fact Sheet on Local Governments, Extreme Weather and Climate Change 2012

ICLEI has developed a fact sheet detailing how 20 leading cities and counties have experienced extreme weather in 2012—as well as the past several years—and what actions they are taking to protect their community members, infrastructure, and economic assets. Click to view examples from Norfolk and Broward County to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Eugene, OR.

Get the Fact Sheet (pdf)

After Sandy: ICLEI’s Vision to Support Resilient Cities and Counties

Atlantic City, NJ, during Hurricane Sandy. Photo credit: New Jersey National Guard

We’ve had a week to process the devastation from hurricane Sandy, and now the hard question emerges: Where do we go from here?

As the slow road to recovery begins, we know we must do more than rebuild our cities and neighborhoods. We must make them more resilient: better prepared and able to bounce back from extreme weather fueled by climate change, not to mention energy insecurity and economic recession. When Sandy’s path of destruction will cost at least $50 billion, can anyone argue that investments in resilience are not cost-effective and a top priority?

If you’ve been following ICLEI for the past year, you know this message well. But you also know that we deliver more than just inspiring words: We develop the technical resources local governments need to achieve their goals.

New Support From ICLEI for Local Governments

In the wake of Sandy, ICLEI is ready to step up and deliver. We have a vision and a plan for how to help cities and counties like yours become more resilient in 2013—with new climate and energy tools, new training and guidance, an innovative online knowledge network, new opportunities for local elected officials to connect and share ideas, and new ways to rally local leaders and make their voices heard to federal leaders.

Federal Report: Rising Seas and Climate Change Threaten Coasts, as Local Governments Shoulder Much of the Preparedness Burden

Above: Hurricane Isabel Storm Surge at Langley Air Force Base, Hampton, Virginia, 18 September 2003. Langley AFB has a mean elevation of 3 feet, with “high” points at 10-11 feet. A 4 foot increase in sea level would inundate 40-50% of the base. Photo source: U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker.

A new report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability in coastal areas of the U.S. warns that coping with sea level rise and coastal disruption "will be a challenge for coastal economies that contributed $8.3 trillion to the GDP in 2011." It says that local governments will have to shoulder much of the burden of "making the critical, basic land-use and public investment decisions and ...working with community stakeholder groups to implement adaptive measures on the ground."

The report, Coastal Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: A Technical Input to the 2012 National Climate Assessment, says that "[i]mpacts on coastal systems are among the most costly and most certain consequences of a warming climate." It continues:

Vice Mayor Jacobs: Candidates Have Real Chance to Talk About Climate Change

Kudos to Vice Mayor Kristin Jacobs of Broward County, FL, who co-authored a powerful op-ed in the Florida Sun Sentinel about the need for federal leaders to get serious about the threats of climate change to America's communities, and for President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney to address climate change in their final debate.

She writes:

The focus of the debate will be foreign policy which is ideal for this topic since climate change is a global issue of relevance to all people, and all nations.  Southeast Florida communities have rolled up their sleeves and jumped into this challenge with enthusiasm and a "can-do" attitude.  Now is the time for a broader partnership to address this local, regional and national issue.

Communities Built to Last: Charting the Road to Resilience

Communities Built to Last: Charting the Road to Resilience from U.S. Green Building Council on Vimeo.

Did you miss the National Leadership Speaker Series on Resiliency & Security in the 21st Century, hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council and ICLEI on Oct. 1 at the National Press Club? We featured three leading local elected officials who are taking steps to ensure the resilience of their communities in the face of climate and energy challenges.