The National Climate Resilience Framework, released today by the White House, provides critical, strategic guidance at a time in which the nation is experiencing back-to-back disasters and needs all levels of government to help communities prepare for worsening climate-fueled extreme weather events, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Below is a statement by Shana Udvardy, climate resilience analyst at UCS.
“The new framework is designed to guide government actions that can help communities become more resilient to the increasingly extreme heat, drought, storms, floods, and wildfires that climate change is bringing. The framework will help guide wise investment of federal dollars by ensuring, for example, that climate change is embedded in all aspects of planning and management.
“This framework represents how the federal government is moving beyond traditional disaster response and into working in concert with all levels of government to proactively implement solutions that are more equitable, strategic and inclusive; and that combined, will better prepare the nation to withstand extreme weather events, as well as the slower-moving climate impacts like sea level rise.
“The reality is: The hard work lies ahead, and we need to be vigilant as to whether we’re moving the needle towards addressing the climate crisis head on, or continuing business as usual.
“Meanwhile, it’s past time that Congress gets its house in order and rises to the climate challenge that’s pounding at our door. Most urgently, Congress must reform and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program so the program takes climate change into account and provides affordable flood insurance, and it should enact a well-funded National Climate Adaptation Strategy.”
For more information, see the following material:
• The blogpost by Udvardy “No Time for Delay: Congress Must Keep Disaster Funding Flowing”
• The blogpost by Udvardy “We Need Climate Resilience Legislation—Now”
• The UCS report “Toward Climate Resilience: A Framework and Principles for Science-Based Adaptation”