Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change (2010) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
8 Conclusions and Recommendations
8 Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 219-234
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From page 219... ...
Such a strategy offers potentials to reduce costs of current and future climate change impacts by realizing and supporting adaptation capacities across different levels of government, different sectors of the economy, and different populations and environments, and by providing resources, coordination, and assistance in ensuring that a wide range of distributed actions are mutually supportive. Placed in a larger context of sustainable development, climate change adaptation can contribute to a coherent and efficient national response to climate change that encourages linkages and partnerships across boundaries between different types of institutions in our society.
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From page 220... ...
This chapter summarizes the panel's findings and recommendations regarding the need for a national climate change adaptation effort. It emphasizes the term "national" rather than "federal" because adaptation is inherently diverse and disaggregated.
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Many U.S. institutions at virtually every scale lack the mandate, the resources, and/or the professional capacity to select and implement climate change adaptations that will reduce risk sufficiently, even when these adaptation actions are urgently needed.
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From page 222... ...
Conference of Mayors, National Governors Association, and a recent Government Accountability Office report (GAO, 2009b) , the panel finds that a national framework is needed to overcome impediments to adaptation, to guide the nation's adaptive response to climate change in a coordinated fashion, and to provide sound advice about how to approach decisions to limit the impacts of climate change.
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From page 223... ...
, U.S. institutions at virtually every scale lack the mandate, the resources, and the professional capacity to select and implement climate change adaptations that will reduce risk sufficiently, even though these adaptation actions are needed (Moser, 2009a)
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From page 224... ...
Development of a national strategy or national plan should incorporate a "bottom-up" approach that builds on and supports existing efforts and experiences at the state and local levels and efforts of partners in the private sector and other NGOs. In particular, the national adaptation strategy should: • Establish leadership on climate change adaptation at the highest levels of government; • Establish a durable vision (including goals, principles, and policy frameworks)
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A NATIONAL PROgRAM SHOuLD bE DEvELOPED TO IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL ADAPTATION STRATEgy Because decision-making entities across all sectors and scales of governance need to develop adaptation plans, the national strategy needs to be tied to effective institutional arrangements for implementation that might include such tools as federal incentives (funding, technical assistance, and intergovernmental consistency) , standards, requirements, metrics, and coordination mechanisms to avoid conflicts across agencies or jurisdictional mandates.
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as well as to our efforts to limit the magnitude of future climate change. Recommendation 3: Federal, state, and local governments, together with nongovernmental partners, should work together to implement a national climate change adaptation program pursuant to the national climate adaptation strategy.
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. The program's support service should: • Build a clearinghouse of adaptation services and best practices built on a series of consistent metrics and deliver information, training, and capacity building services for climate change adaptation and mitigation that are broadly available to government, NGOs, and private-sector interests and that build upon existing extension programs, adaptation networks, and other cur rent outreach capacity; and • Provide climate monitoring, mapping, and technical assistance to inform gov ernments at all levels and the private sector on climate impacts and vulner abilities, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation activities and ensure that managers of public lands and resources have adequate support for adaptations to protect ecosystem services and critical habitats.
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Many of these advances are needed very quickly to inform such issues as identifying potential thresholds or tipping points for climate change impacts as they relate to limits of adaptation; prospects and approaches for encouraging voluntary relocation from high-vulnerability areas; and climate change adaptation in a context of sustainability that considers multiple threats, stresses, and opportunities. Adaptation will be required not only to address changes in climate conditions but also society's climate change responses, including emissions-limiting actions, adaptation actions, and potential geoengineering options.
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States and tribes will need to take a significant leadership and coordination role, especially in areas where cities and other local interests have not yet established adaptation efforts. State and tribal governments should develop and implement climate change adaptation plans to guide policy and coordinate with federal, regional, local, and private-sector efforts pursuant to the national climate adaptation strategy.
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From page 230... ...
resource, staffing, and training needs that would be required to build capacity for adaptation to climate change; • Building adaptation and mitigation objectives into the operations, budgets, and planning processes and programs of cities and other local governments; • Including a financial assessment of potential adaptation-related infrastructure needs and operating costs and evaluation of the potential impact of adapta tion investments on revenues; • Designing adaptations to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts as well as to promote sustainability at a regional level; • Establishing ongoing monitoring and assessment processes as well as goals and principles for future decision making with respect to adapting to the im pacts of climate change; and • Including a public education and engagement component focusing on local climate change impacts and adaptation issues. Recommendation 7: The private sector, NgOs, and society at large should assess their own vulnerabilities and risks due to climate change and actively engage and partner with the respective governmental adaptation planning efforts to help build the nation's adaptive capacity.
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From page 231... ...
The united States should support the establishment of a collaborative, sufficiently funded, international adaptation program that can be sustained over time. The program should: • Support adaptation projects, capacity building, and sustainable development in countries that have high vulnerability to climate change impacts; • Include innovative mechanisms for engagement and information exchange and build global adaptation networks; and • Help coordinate the efforts of public, private, and nongovernmental organiza tions in international adaptation projects.
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Examples of actions or mainstreaming adaptation that could be implemented to address major pressing needs within the near-term include the following: National Priorities • Initiate revisions to the National Flood Insurance Program to require that floodplain maps used for federal flood insurance, state and local regulation, disaster planning, and individual warning take future climate change vulner abilities into account by reflecting projected changes in sea level rise, storm surge, rainfall-runoff intensity, and flood volumes. • Revise federal, state, and professional engineering standards to reflect current and anticipated future climate changes, and require the use of these standards as a condition for federal investments in infrastructure.
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• Transportation. Revise federal, state, and professional engineering standards to reflect current and anticipated future climate changes and require their use as a condition for federal investments in infrastructure; also, incorporate climate change in the planning process.
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Along with the near-term activities, it is important to consider adaptation to climate change impacts as a process that will require sustained commitment and a durable yet flexible strategy for several decades to come.
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