Overview: The New York City Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency is a city agency created to address infrastructure concerns in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines precisely what elements of New York City’s infrastructure are vulnerable to extreme weather, what has been done to fortify it, and what remains to be done. Updates have followed in the city’s OneNYC initiative (2016 report)
Building a Stronger Coast
Overview: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is the agency dedicated to protecting oceanic ecosystems.
How to Use This Resource: This website features state fact sheets, an infographic on coastal resilience, restoration and repair videos, and an interactive story map of Hurricane Sandy recovery projects, with detailed profiles of each and a database of media resources that is searchable by state.
Building Climate Resilient Transportation
Overview: The Federal Highway Administration is run through the U.S. Department of Transportation and is responsible for the upkeep of our roads and highways.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a detailed analysis of climate changes’ impact on the U.S. transportation system and what efforts are in place to combat it on the federal and state level.
FEMA on Climate Change
Overview: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency supports citizens and first responders to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate hazards.
How to Use This Resource: FEMA’s climate change site provides access to a wide range of its own tools and data, as well as those from other agencies. Links are provided to information on risk mapping, the federal flood risk management standard, coastal flood risks and hurricanes. Search elsewhere within the FEMA site for information on flood insurance, emergency response, and activities in regions of the country, as well as preparing for emergencies.
North Carolina Sea Level Rise Assessment Report
Overview: The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel is a group of volunteer scientists conducting research on behalf of the Coastal Resources Commission.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will an in-depth analysis of the science behind rising sea levels, the impact it will have on North Carolina, and initiatives in place to fortify the state infrastructure.
A New Climate for Peace: Taking Action on Climate and Fragility Risks
Overview: The Group of 7 leading nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States — commissioned this report to identify the largest climate-fragility risks that pose serious threats to the stability of states and societies in the decades ahead.
How to Use This Resource: The report identifies seven “compound climate-fragility risks,” such as extreme weather and sea-level rise, that pose serious threats to the stability of states and societies. Based on an assessment of existing policies on climate change adaptation, development cooperation and humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding, the report recommends actions to reduce climate fragility and increase resilience. The report also includes nine country case studies, while the web site includes a fact book, risk briefs, suggested reading and an events list.
Adaptation in Action: Grantee Success Stories from CDC’s Climate and Health Program
Overview: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. It uses its prevention expertise to advise cities and states on investigating, preparing for, and responding to the health ramifications of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This progress report on the CDC’s climate change adaptation program details what health risks are caused by climate change and which programs have been most effective in combatting them.
Adaptation Measures Reporting: Quantifying Our Efforts
Overview: International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives — Canada is an association of local governments with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in government.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides reports and statistics on the local governments across Canada that are implementing adaptation measures to combat climate change.
Adaptation Platform
Overview: Natural Resources Canada is the branch of the Canadian government responsible protecting the country’s natural resources, with a focus on agricultural and clean energy policy.
How to Use This Resource: The Adaptation Platform unites Canadian government and industry decision makers to collaborate on national adaptation priorities.
Adaptation Strategies and Adaptation Mitigation Nexus
Overview: The Asian-Pacific Adaptation Project is an organization within the United Nations Environmental Programme, working to build climate change resilience in Asian nations.
How to Use This Resource: This archive holds reports, news updates and data on adaptation strategies in the Asian-Pacific region.
Adapting to Change
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This database includes a complete guide to agencies within United States’ federal government dedicated to climate adaptation, as well as providing a toolkit for policymakers. The site menu also provides access to information about climate impacts.
Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Parks
Overview: The National Park Service is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior and is responsible for the upkeep and protection of national parks.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive report on how rising sea levels threaten national parks and what action is underway to address this threat.
Assessing Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Guide for Health Departments
Overview: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. It uses its prevention expertise to advise cities and states on investigating, preparing for, and responding to the health ramifications of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines how the nation’s health services are assessing risk and preparing to adapt to climate change.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Overview: The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a network of international cities that share information and collaborate on climate change action. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a key funder.
How to Use This Resource: The site’s database allows journalists to search among participating cities for adaptation and other initiatives. Its research menu provides access to extensive reports, case studies and data, including on adaptation and on low carbon emissions in cities.
Cal-Adapt: Exploring California’s Climate Change Research
Overview: Cal-Adapt provides access to the state’s scientific research and data. It the product of a collaboration between UC Berkeley’s Geospatial Innovation Facility, the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research Program, and Google.org.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides interactive data and maps on the effects of climate change on California at the local level.
California Climate Change Assessments
Overview: The California Natural Resources Agency is the state governmental body designated to address climate change adaptation and resiliency.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a portfolio of projects for California’s climate change assessment plans. The state recently released a Climate Change Research Plan that spells out near-term research needed to keep the state on track with its climate goals.
Cambridge Climate Change Planning
Overview: The Community Development Department is the planning agency for the City of Cambridge in Massachusetts. Its climate adaptation mission is to assess the extent of Cambridge’s vulnerability and draft comprehensive policy to strengthen the city’s resiliency.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the complete Cambridge plan to adapt to and prepare for climate change.
Chicago Climate Action Plan
Overview: The Chicago Climate Task Force reports to Chicago’s Office of the Mayor. The consortium of policymakers and climate experts are working together to decrease Chicago’s GHG emissions and adapt the city to new climate patterns.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete assessment of Chicago’s response to climate change with reports on policy, risk assessment, and new initiatives, including a nine-point climate adaptation plan.
Climate and Disaster Resilience Initiatives
Overview: The United Nations Development Programme researches the climate disaster risk and energy policies of nations and finances resiliency efforts worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: Developing countries are both less able to cope with and more likely to be affected by extreme weather. This database provides information on what adaptation action is being taken by the United Nations Development Programme and where.
Climate Change Adaptation by Federal Agencies: An Analysis of Plans and Issues for Congress
Overview: The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research agency within the U.S. Congress.
How to Use This Resource: This report reviews federal agencies and their plans to adapt their infrastructure and operations to future climate change.
Climate Change Adaptation: Towards a Resilient City
Overview: The Environment and Energy Division of the City of Toronto develops and implements its environmental and energy policies, as well as promoting sustainable development in the private sector.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find several reports and briefs from the Toronto city government on what climate change risks the city faces and how it is adapting.
Climate Change and Human Mobility
Overview: The Nansen Initiative is an inter-government effort, primarily funded by Norway and Switzerland, to build consensus around protecting people displaced across borders due to natural disasters, including those linked to climate change.
How to Use This Resource: The Nansen Initiative web site has links to specific regional initiatives in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Latin America, an archive of dozens of backgrounders and statements, plus policy reviews and research. The initiative also held an event at the Paris climate negotiations to bring together players around climate change and human mobility issues.
Climate Change Global Food Security and the U.S. Food System
Overview: The United States Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This 157-page report, part of a peer-reviewed scientific assessment incorporated into the U.S. National Climate Assessment, analyzes how climate change is impacting global food security across multiple sectors. The web site includes a six-minute explanatory video.
Climate Change Indicators in the United States
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will ample data, interactive maps and exhaustive reports to support scientist’s belief that climate change is caused by human activity. This data is organized by topics such as greenhouse gases, oceans, and ecosystems.
Climate Change Policy & Practice
Overview: Climate Change Policy and Practice is a database of United Nations and Intergovernmental activities that publishes news updates daily.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the most recent updates on United Nations climate change action and news.
Climate Change Resource Center
Overview: The U.S. Forest Service is the agency within the Department of Agriculture responsible for the preservation and upkeep of national forests and park
How to Use This Resource: This archive contains detailed reports on how the changing climate is impacting national forests, and the best practices for protecting them.
Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability
Overview: The U.S. Geographical Survey is a science organization that provides the government with information on America’s ecosystems, natural hazards and resources, and the impacts of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Users can search this database – administered by the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center and the advisory group EcoAdapt – for assessments by specific geographic regions, relevant agency, species, ecosystem and other factors.
Climate Resilient Cities
Overview: Climate Resilient Cities is the overarching program on urban resilience of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), a worldwide network of over 1,000 cities, towns and metropolises with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in government.
How to Use This Resource: This initiative provides information and toolkits on municipal-level disaster risk reduction, food security, policy making and financing. Links on the web site include an adaptation database and planning tool, a white paper on financing resilience and various guidebooks. The site also includes a link to the the Durban Adaptation Charter, which has been signed by leaders from over 100 cities.
Climate Showcase Communities Program
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment. EPA’s Climate Showcase Communities Program helps local governments and tribal nations pilot innovative, cost-effective and replicable community-based greenhouse gas reduction projects.
How to Use This Resource: This site and interactive map showcases climate change initiatives happening across the United States, specifically energy efficiency, waste management, and transportation programs. The site includes links to effective practices tip sheets, program model design guides and workshop presentations.
Climate-Ready Water Utilities Toolkit
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This toolkit – designed primarily for water utility managers – focuses on fortifying water infrastructure and provides tools, training, and technical assistance needed to adapt to climate change.
Climate-Smart Planning Platform
Overview: The Climate-Smart Planning Platform, from the Climate Policy and Finance Department of the World Bank, assists developing country policymakers with low carbon growth and climate resilient development by connecting them to relevant tools, data, and knowledge.
How to Use This Website: Journalists can use this PDF to understand the challenges of planning for climate adaptation, to collect World Bank sources, and as a gateway to World Bank data on climate and weather data by region or sector.
Coastal Storm Surge Scenarios for Water Utilities
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This map illustrates worst-case coastal storm scenarios with datasets from the National Hurricane Center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Community-Based Adaptation to a Changing Climate
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This report discusses how climate change impacts community services, provides adaptation strategies, and provides links to other federal resources.
Compact of Mayors News and Research
Overview: The Compact of Mayors is the world’s largest coalition of city leaders addressing climate change by pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, tracking their progress and preparing for the impacts of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This archive of news updates and reports from the Compact of Mayors follows adaptation progress in cities across the globe.
COP21 Paris Agreement
Overview: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and has near universal membership. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: This document (in PDF form) is the final draft of the Paris Summit agreement, officially adopted on December 21, 2015, of the 21st Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC.
Data Distribution Centre
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the socio-economic and carbon emission data that supports IPCC publications and reports.
Data Snapshots: Reusable Climate Maps
Overview: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This catalog of maps features filtering options, such as droughts, temperature and severe weather, to help users pinpoint data by location.
Data.gov
Overview: Data.gov is an online database that is managed by the U.S. General Services Administration.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find government-sponsored data on the projected impacts of climate change on the nation’s infrastructure, public health and natural resources.
Digital Coast: Office for Coastal Management
Overview: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This repository contains U.S. topographic data that users can search by year, area, data provider, elevation product, projection, datum, and format.
Economic Aspects of Adaptation Research
Overview: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a consortium of 34 nations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Asia that promote international economic development.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find research and reports from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the economic aspects of climate change adaptation.
Environmental Migration Portal
Overview: The Environmental Migration Portal is a database for information on climate-caused migration patterns and impacts. It was created as part of the Migration, Environment and Climate Change project funded by the European Union.
How to Use This Resource: The site includes links to the group’s research on climate change, adaptation and migration, as well to current projects, such as on migration and adaptation in South Asia. A helpful set of five infographics chart the relationship between migration and environmental change by outlining how extreme weather renders vulnerable territories virtually inhabitable.
European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT)
Overview: Climate Adapt is a partnership between the European Commission and the European Environment Agency working to adapt Europe to climate change by providing a platform to publish and share information.
How to Use This Resource: This database contains European climate change projections in Europe, maps of regions vulnerable to climate change, national and transnational adaptation strategies, case studies and potential adaptation options.
Federal Action on Climate Change
Overview: Performance.gov provides the public with a view of the inner workings of the Federal Government.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete archive of the federal agencies concerned with climate change and the most up-to-date reports on their plans and progress.
FEMA News
Overview: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency supports citizens and first responders to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate hazards.
How to Use This Resource: This archive allows users to search FEMA press releases by region and state.
Global Climate Change Initiative
Overview: The U.S. Agency for International Development is the primary federal agency for the administration of foreign financial aid.
How to Use This Resource: U.S. AID’s work focuses on human security and prosperity overseas, and its climate initiative focuses on clean energy growth and resilient development. Its adaptation program reaches more than 30 countries. The site also has a resilience resource and research database in which journalists will find articles, speeches, videos and webinars on U.S. international adaptation investments.
Glossary of Climate Change Terms
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists can use this glossary as a reference guide when mining climate change research. It covers both policy and scientific lexicons.
Green Climate Fund
Overview: The Green Climate Fund is a global coalition of governments working together under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to invest in climate-resilient development and help developing countries adapt to a changing climate.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find information on how the fund helps governments channel adaptation investments to developing countries, including a pledge tracker, descriptions of projects being funded, documentation and an online news room. More background about the Green Climate Fund can be found at the UNFCC web site.
Green Infrastructure for Climate Resiliency
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal organization that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use this Resource: This toolkit provides practical resources for improving and fortifying water supply and energy infrastructure.
Green Infrastructure Toolkit
Overview: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency within the United States Department of Commerce dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This toolkit provides local-level data about the coastal risks of climate change and provide an extensive menu of techniques to mitigate those risks.
Health and Human Services Climate Adaptation Plan
Overview: The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a cabinet-level agency responsible for protecting human health.
How to Use This Resource: This report assesses the full impact that climate change will have on American health. It outlines plans to update its facilities and practices to better serve vulnerable communities within the United States.
Heat Island Effect Database
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: Heat islands are built-up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. They increase summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water quality. This is database of the ongoing research and strategies for mitigation.
Hurricane Sandy Rebuild By Design Competition
Overview: In response to Hurricane Sandy, U.S. HUD Secretary Donovan launched Rebuild by Design, a design competition model to develop innovative, actionable solutions for a more resilient region in the Northeast.
How to Use This Resource: Each of the projects profiled here found new ways to use design as a means to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. This work is at the vanguard of urban resiliency action.
Hurricane Sandy Recovery Progress Report
Overview: This report provides updates on the progress of the Office of the Mayor’s Housing Recovery Operations and the Build it Back Program in the three years since Hurricane Sandy first hit New York City.
How to Use This Resource: The city intends to provide financial relief and expedite recovery for homeowners and better engage local communities directly in the rebuilding process. This report provides a detailed analysis of those efforts, as well as the Build it Back Program, which offers financial assistance to homeowners who were hit by the Hurricane Sandy.
Impacts & Adaptation – EPA State and Local Climate and Energy Program
Overview: This website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment, archives all EPA adaptation resources available to U.S. city and state governments.
How to Use This Resource: The resource offers discussion of the benefits of adaptation and adaptation planning, links to specific plans from New York City, Chicago and Miami, among others, and a wide range of resources and tools.
Know Your Zone
Overview: New York City’s Office of Emergency Management is a coordinating agency that prepares for emergencies, coordinates emergency response, and shares emergency information.
How to Use This Resource: This site contains practical information about New York City’s hurricane response policies and includes maps of hurricane evacuation zones, potential hurricane hazards, and preparation techniques.
Local Government Climate Adaptation Training
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This training toolkit was designed to brief local government lawmakers on the local level on climate change science, impacts, and policy solutions available to them.
Mitigation and Adaptation Policies
Overview: The Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet is a NASA-sponsored project that archives timely news and data on Earth’s changing climate.
How to Use This Resource: This database makes NASA-sponsered data available to the general public with a special focus on adaption and mitigation.
National Adaptation Plans
Overview: A national adaptation plan process, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, enables parties to formulate and implement the plans as a way to identify adaptation needs, and to develop and implement strategies and program to address them.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete database of UNFCCC plans to adapt Least Developed Countries to a changing climate. This resource page also includes links to technical guidelines and publications.
National Climate Assessment NCANet Toolkit
Overview: The United States Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Participants of this information-sharing platform contribute their climate change research materials to this easily searchable database. The Adaptation + Mitigation and Built Infrastructure sections cover climate change action on the federal, state, and local level.
National Climate Change and Wildlife Center
Overview: The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) is a part of the U.S. Geological Survey, and acts as the managing entity for the eight Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs). Together, the NCCWSC and CSCs partner with natural and cultural resource managers and scientists to help fish and wildlife and their ecosystems adapt to the impacts of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: The site provides access to year-by-year lists of funded projects, and a range of scientific tools and databases, such as the Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability (CRAVe). It also features an up-to-date list of reports, and a series of fact sheets and maps.
National Disaster Resilience Competition
Overview: The Department of Housing and Urban Development is the cabinet-level agency responsible for the development of quality and affordable housing in the United States.
How to Use This Resource: Forty states and communities are competing in the final phase of the challenge to develop disaster resilience strategies and projects. This site provides a comprehensive guide to what action those governments are taking.
National Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation of Climate Change Adaptation in Europe
Overview: This report, prepared by the European Environmental Agency, the division of the European Union dedicated to providing independent information and research on the environment and its impacts on European nations, provides information on adaptation monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems at the national level in Europe.
How to Use This Resource: The 68-page report, sourced from an expert workshop held in spring 2015, is designed for policymakers and adaptation experts, as well as public and utility authorities, and businesses. It includes numerous country-by-country case studies, as well as tables with overviews of national organizations involved in adapatation.
National Stormwater Calculator
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal organization that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This desktop application estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the United States.
New York State Hurricane Sandy Response Programs
Overview: The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery was formed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to centralize recovery and rebuilding efforts in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
How to Use This Resource: This site details the New York State programs dedicated to housing recovery, small business, and community reconstruction.
North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study Report
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers investigates, develops and maintains the nation environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: This report and interactive map details the results of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of coastal storm and flood risk to vulnerable populations, property, ecosystems, and infrastructure affected by Hurricane Sandy in the North Atlantic region.
Paris Climate Change Conference Information Hub
Overview: The Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference was the 21st meeting of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose aim is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: The extensive conference information hub is a go-to site for reporters covering the Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2015 summit, providing agendas, reports, schedules, research pertaining, and more. There’s also a web site on Understanding the UNFCC that includes a detailed discussion of adaptation initiatives.
Portland and Multnomah County Climate Action Plan
Overview: The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability develops practical policies to enhance Portland’s climate resiliency and decrease its carbon footprint.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines the actions that Portland will take in the next five years to reduce carbon emissions and build up infrastructure to withstand extreme weather such as floods, heatwaves, and landslides.
President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change
Overview: WhiteHouse.gov serves as an archive of news and information pertaining to the President of the United States. It regularly publishes policies, speeches, reports and briefs.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a structured explanation of federal government policies to reduce carbon pollution and encourage investment in clean energy. It also provides links to policy assessment reports, supporting research, and comprehensive fact sheets.
Progress Report: Targets and Initiatives 2
Overview: Greenworks Philadelphia is the City’s first comprehensive sustainability plan. Its drafting incorporated existing work within the Philadelphia government and external partners.
How to Use This Resource: This report details the Philadelphia government’s policies to combat climate change and make the city more resilient.
Renewable Energy: Cutting Pollution, Creating Opportunity
Overview: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is the agency responsible for the conservation of natural resources and enforcing the state’s environmental laws and regulations.
How to Use This Resource: Journalist will find information on energy policy in New York State – who provides it, how it is distributed, and what percentage is renewable. There is also information on state plans to to upgrade distribution infrastructure and increase reliance on clean energy.
Research on Adaptation and Vulnerability Database
Overview: The Stockholm Environmental Institute is an independent research institute that analyzes and proposes sustainable policy at local, national, regional and global policy levels.
How to Use This Website: The Stockholm Environmental Institute regularly archives their reports on the financial elements of adaptation and sustainability.
Risk Reduction Action and Research
Overview: The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) coordinates disaster reduction activities of the United Nations. It was founded in 1999 and focuses primarily on building resilience against climate change.
How to Use This Document: This website contains extensive data and research collected by the UNISDR, as well as updates on its activities. Of note are the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a Climate Risk Early Warning Systems initiative launched at COP21 and a report on “The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters.”
Sea Level Rise Planning
Overview: The National Wildlife Refuge System, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, is dedicated to protecting 150 million acres of land and water from the Caribbean to the Pacific, plus more than 418 million acres of national marine monuments.
How to Use This Resource: This site explains the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model, which is the foundation of sea-level rise planning for the refuge system on the national level. The model provides maps and tables projecting sea-level rise scenarios between 2025 and 2100.
Special Initiatives
Overview: Eye on Earth is a coalition of global leaders, innovators and decision-makers working to unite policymakers, converge consensus, and foster further global collaboration toward climate adaptation.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides policymakers with an information-sharing platform to share their knowledge of fighting climate change. Sorted by topic, the site features extensive research on disaster response, water security, and emission reduction, among others.
Strategic Sustainability Performance and Adaptation Plans
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the Department of Defense agency responsible for investigating and maintaining the nation’s environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the most recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers progress reports on its climate change risk assessment research, as well as video and other resources on climate resilience.
Sustainability DC: Sustainable DC Plan
Overview: Sustainable DC is the District of Columbia’s major planning effort to make the city a sustainable one. It is led by the Department of Energy and Environment and the Office of Planning with input and participation of thousands of D.C. community members.
How to Use This Resource: The Sustainability DC Plan details how the capital intends to improve its infrastructure and adapt to the changing climate.
The Business Case for Responsible Corporate Adaptation
Overview: Caring for Climate is a joint initiative of the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environmental Programme and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, working to mobilize business leaders to implement climate change adaptation policies.
How to Use This Resource: This report provides recommendations on climate adaptation from the United Nations to businesses with the aim of fighting poverty and environmental degradation worldwide. It includes chapters on the business benefits of adapting responsibly and on overcoming barriers to corporate adaptation, as well as 17 case studies of business adaptation around the world.
The Climate Ready Estuaries program
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: The Climate Ready Estuaries program works with the National Estuary Programs and coastal management communities to assess vulnerabilities and implement adaptation strategies. This database provides access to risk assessment and coastal adaptation toolkits as well as information on ongoing and future projects.
The Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Program
Overview: Adaptation Scotland is a collaboration of businesses and policymakers funded by, and working for, the Scottish government.
How to Use This Resource: Adaption Scotland details how climate change has and will affect Scotland as well as the Scottish government’s plans to adapt its infrastructure and prepare its populace.
The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage
Overview: The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is a protocol to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This page leads to various resources related to loss and damage, including an overview of milestones, various decision documents and meeting schedules, as well as access to a database of examples of existing loss and damage measures.
Transportation and Climate Change Clearinghouse
Overview: The U.S. Department of Transportation is the Federal agency responsible for the upkeep and regulation of air, road, and rail travel systems.
How to Use This Resource: This database includes information on climate change’s impact on transportation infrastructure, means by which the national transportation system can adapt, and best practices for curtailing its carbon emissions. Journalists can also explore an extensive section on climate adaptation and transportation.
U.N. Climate Change Newsroom
Overview: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and has near universal membership. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: At the Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference, convention members are attempting to reach a global agreement on climate action. This website posted regular updates from the Paris conference, including the latest information on negotiations, documents, and live feeds, as well as resources for those journalists covering the conference. You can also find a list of on-demand webcasts and a hashtag tracker.
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
Overview: The toolkit was developed in 2014 by a partnership of federal agencies and organizations, initially providing federal resources to help address coastal flood risk and food resilience. The site is expanding to address health, ecosystems, water resources, energy supply and infrastructure, transportation and more, as well as to include information from state and local governments, business, academia and NGOs.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a catalog of free tools to access and analyze climate data and a visualization tool that maps climate stressors and impacts. The toolkit also has case studies, explainers, training courses and resilience planning tools, as well as the ability to search the federal government’s climate science databases.
United States Federal Adaptation Resources
Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent nonprofit advocating for policy action to address climate change. It is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a database of adaptation resources such as reports, bill proposals, and datasets for policymakers on the federal, state and municipal level.
USDA Climate Hubs
Overview: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the federal department responsible for developing and executing law on farming, agriculture, forestry, and food.
How to Use This Website: Each climate hub within this interactive map of the United States links to data on that region’s climate, as well as to practical information about climate resiliency and adaptation toolkits for farmers, ranchers and landowners.
Water Utility Response On The Go
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This toolkit for water utilities makes EPA resources easily accessible in the midst of an extreme weather event. It is mobile-friendly and includes weather tracking tools, planning information, and a damage reporting form.
Weather and Climate Toolkit
Overview: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource:The toolkit allows the visualization and data export of weather and climate data, including radar, satellite and model data. It also provides tools for background maps, animations and basic filtering.
Beyond Storms & Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change
Overview: The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific psychological organization in the United States. It works to advance the application of psychological knowledge nationwide.
How to Use This Resource: This report details psychological ramifications of climate change on human welfare.
Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management
Overview: The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery is a World Bank organization assisting policymakers to prepare low-income countries for future climate change events.
How To Use This Resource: Journalists can mine this 200-page report for information on flood risk assessment and the development of low-risk infrastructure.
Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use this Resource: This report details the impacts of climate change worldwide to date. It found that while the process of adaptation has already begun, most climate change action is still reactionary.
Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap
Overview: The U.S. Department of Defense serves as the principal defense policy advisor to the president and works under his direction. It embodies the U.S. military and a civilian force of thousands.
How to Use This Resource: Extreme weather will affect both the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the United States and increase the immediate risks it faces. This report outlines what those “threat multipliers” are and what the Department of Defense can do to address them.
Climate Change Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This synthesis report is provides a global perspective of climate change and addresses its causes, future impacts, and future pathways for adaptation.
Climate-Resilient Development: A Framework for Understanding and Addressing Climate Change
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers investigates, develops and maintains the nation environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: This toolkit offers a five-stage program for policymakers and developers to help them assess climate risks and prioritize climate-resilient action.
Excessive Heat Event Coordination Plan
Overview: The Heat Task Force of Greater Milwaukee is a diverse collection of municipal, county, and state government agencies, as well as private, non-profit, and community organizations to combat extreme heat in vulnerable city regions.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a detailed plan from Milwaukee how on city mitigates extreme heat in an urban setting.
Extreme Weather and Climate Readiness: Toolkit for State and Territorial Health Departments
Overview: The Climate Change Collaborative is a project from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to help prepare its agencies for the effects of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: In this report, journalists will find information on how the nation’s key public health programs are integrating climate readiness into their policies.
Flood Resilience: A Basic Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal organization that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This database of information on the U.S.’s water utilities infrastructure provides a basic overview of its current state, identifies vulnerable regions, and reports on projects currently underway to fortify it.
Introduction to Storm Surge
Overview: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm. And as climate change intensifies the power of tropical storms, storm surge will become one of the greatest challenges facing coastal cities. This fact sheet explains the science behind the surge.
National Climate Assessment Report
Overview: The U.S. Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This interactive report details public and private sector adaptation planning happening in the United States. Few adaptation plans have been implemented and several enact only incremental changes.
Quadrennial Defense Review
Overview: The U.S. Department of Defense serves as the principal defense policy advisor to the President and works under his direction. It embodies the United States military and a civilian force of thousands.
How to Use This Resource: This reports includes an in-depth analysis of climate change’s impact as a “threat multiplier” to national security, as well as a discussion of preparations and adaptation to climate change.
Regional Climate Action Plan Database
Overview: The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact is an ongoing collaborative effort among the region’s counties to foster sustainability and climate resilience.
How to Use This Resource: This database contains surveys and case studies of activities that Southeast Florida municipalities and counties are engaged in to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Resilient pathways: The Adaptation of the ICT Sector to Climate Change
Overview: Three United Nations Agencies – the International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – collaborated on this report, which calls for updated policy on climate change policy.
How to Use This Resource: This report explores the impacts of climate change on the information and communication technology sector, the potential for adaptation, and recommends new standards that need to be developed in order to protect economic growth.
Retrofitting Buildings for Flood Risk
Overview: The New York City Department of City Planning is the department responsible for the oversight of the city’s physical and socioeconomic planning.
How to Use This Resource: This report provides a comprehensive analysis of retrofit options available for buildings in the New York City floodplain.
Africa’s Adaptation Gap: A Technical Report
Overview: The United Nations Environment Programme represents the environment within the United Nations system.
How to Use This Resource: Africa’s Adaptation Gap Report is a stark analysis of where Africa stands in relation to its adaptation goals. The continent serves as a cautionary indicator of what may happen should the emissions gap remain.
Canada’s Ongoing Commitment to Climate Change Adaptation
Overview: Environment Canada is the branch of the Canadian government responsible for conducting scientific research on Canada’s environment and for draft legislation to maintain it.
How to Use This Resource: This policy brief reports on how federal adaptation funds are being allocated in Canada.
Hoboken Resiliency & Readiness Plan
Overview: The City of Hoboken Mayor’s Office is one the leading municipal governments in the fight for climate adaptation. Mayor Dawn Zimmer has invested millions of dollars into Hoboken flood resiliency and is a member of President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Local Government Advisory Committee.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive report on the climate risks facing Hoboken, N.J., primarily flooding and the need for better storm surge protection infrastructure.
How Climate Change Action is Giving Us Wealthier, Healthier Cities
Overview: This Carbon Disclosure Project report surveyed 110 municipal governments worldwide to research the effect of climate change action on cities. It found it would enhance the municipalities’ economies, as well as the health of their residents.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find data on the municipal governments: which policymakers are addressing climate change, what they are doing, and how their efforts are working. The study found 91 percent of cities believe cutting greenhouse gas emissions will improve their economies, 55 percent are combatting climate change by promoting walking and cycling, and more than 75 percent of cities reported that their action will improve the health of their residents.
Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding: Strategy Stronger Communities, A Resilient Region
Overview: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Hurricane Sandy is a federal agency that oversees disaster relief funding and investment in resilient infrastructure.
How to Use This Resource: This report has extensive data on Hurricane Sandy’s impact on Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and the Shinnecock Indian Nation. It also clearly outlines the strategies federal government has taken and will take to repair and strengthen the coastline’s infrastructure.
Recent OECD work on Adaptation to Climate Change
Overview: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a consortium of 34 nations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Asia that promote international economic development.
How to Use This Resource: This report details what actions the OECD has taken to assist developing countries prepare for climate change, how best to invest in future adaptation, and where funds are needed most.
The Resilient Social Network
Overview: The Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute is a federally funded research and development center that produces independent analysis on homeland security.
How to Use This Resource: Within hours of Sandy’s landfall in New Jersey, Occupy Wall Street members had created a social media network of humanitarian volunteers that would eventually grow to 60,000 members. This report studies how such grassroots activism might be utilized by the government when the next disaster strikes.
U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change
Overview: The U.S. Department of Energy is a cabinet-level agency that develops policies on energy finance, infrastructure, and safety.
How to Use This Resource: This report examines current and potential future impacts of climate trends on the U.S. energy sector.
Which Coastal Cities Are at Highest Risk of Damaging Floods?
Overview: The World Bank is an intergovernmental financial institution based in Washington D.C. that fights poverty by providing loans to developing countries, sponsoring research and promoting policy change worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: The cost of urban losses from flooding in coastal cities will rise 850 percent in 50 years, according to this World Bank report. Its findings are summarized in this article, which includes a link to purchase the full report. The report is part of a series, “Turn Down the Heat,” that looks at expected rises in sea level and their impact on vulnerable regions around the world.
Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative
Overview: The National Academies Press publishes the reports of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and operates under a United States Congress charter.
How to Use This Resource: This book focuses on the particular challenges of crafting federal policies on climate resiliency that suite a vast amount of Americans communities, each with their own individual needs.
Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Public Health Practice
Overview: Environmental Health Perspectives is a peer-reviewed research journal from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
How to Use This Resource: This article outlines the range of climate change’s impacts on human health, how national health facilities have already adapted, and what more they can do.
Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast
Overview: The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority was established after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, in order to unify the state entities involved with protecting the coastline. For the first time in state history, Louisiana is uniting infrastructural and environmental agencies to produce a more climate-resilient community.
How to Use This Resource: Louisiana is one of the most vulnerable states, as well as one of the most innovative. This master plan details projects that provided relief to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and lays groundwork for large-scale efforts to fortify the coastline in time for the next extreme storm.
Ocean Acidification: From Knowledge to Action Summary Report
Overview: Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification is a research group convened by Washington States’s Office of the Governor.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive overview of what causes ocean acidification, the negative impact it has on local economies, and what policies and practices might curtail it.
Coastal Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise Map
Overview: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This map provides clear data on where sea levels rising will have the largest impact in the United States. The data can be sorted by erosion rate, tide range and wave height.
French National Climate Change Impact Adaptation Plan
Overview: The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Energy is a cabinet-level agency responsible for policies on climate change adaptation.
How to Use This Resource: France’s climate plan focused primarily on fortifying national infrastructure and preserving public health.
Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise in Florida
Overview: The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council is a research organization sponsored by the federal government to develop priorities for ocean and coastal research statewide.
How to Use This Resource: This report on the effects of climate change on Florida’s ocean and coastal resources found the state extremely unprepared, because none of its infrastructure was built to accommodate sea level rise. The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council calls for immediate action in this comprehensive guide.
Climate Change and Fire Management Research Strategy
Overview: The British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range Wildfire Management Branch is responsible for policy relating to forests and wildfire within its region.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a synthesis report on the research on climate change and wildfire management.
Combatting Climate Change: The German Adaptation Policy
Overview: The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety is the German governmental body responsible for policies on climate action, urban development, and rural infrastructure
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines the German plan to adapt to climate change. It focuses specifically on infrastructure adaption in agricultural, transportation, and water supply sectors.
The Rotterdam Approach
Overview: The Rotterdam Climate Initiative offers a platform for companies, academies, citizens, and government bodies to work together on fortified water supply infrastructure.
How to Use This Resource: This website archives the numerous reports from the city of Rotterdam on how it plans to cut its CO2 emissions and promote sustainable business in the Netherlands.