Take Adaptation Action

Once community staff and stakeholders have worked together to assess and prioritize local climate change risks and vulnerabilities, it’s time to integrate the results of their good work into community planning and decision-making processes. This is a way to begin building the community’s adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change. Of course your plans have to be implemented to be effective, but the better a plan, the more likely it is to be followed!

Some communities choose to adopt separate adaptation plans, while others find that adaptation strategies are most likely to be followed if they are incorporated into existing policies and documents.

Community Examples

Implementing Adaptive Capacity: First Nations in Transition - T’Sou-ke Nation

2010 - Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources

There are four pillars in the climate change strategy of T’Sou-ke Nation (in British Columbia): energy security, food security, cultural security and economic security. This webcast on the T’Sou-ke Nation project provides information for other First Nations on how to undertake such a project, from planning to implementation. This project is part of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada’s Sharing Knowledge for a Better Future program.

Go to Resource: http://www.cier.ca/information-and-resources/publications-and-products.aspx?id=1804

King County - Climate Plan

2007 - King County, Washington

The King County climate plan might be the most-referred-to adaptation related plan in the world. The document is a comprehensive investigation of how this Washington State County can reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts. The document contains an overview of climate change and a discussion on the state of the science, as well as a section outlining impacts in the Pacific Northwest.  The document describes how public health, water supply and quantity, property and infrastructure, government services, economic prosperity and biodiversity are all vulnerable to climate change. The plan discusses how climate change will be incorporated into future decision-making.

Go to Resource: http://your.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/2007/pdf/ClimatePlan.pdf

Resources

Promising Practices in Adaptation and Resilience: A Resource Guide for Local Leaders, Version 1.0

2010 - Climate Leadership Academy, Institute for Sustainable Communities & Center for Clean Air Policy

This guide serves as a general resource for governments undertaking adaptation initiatives. It highlights several case studies from around the world, illustrating models for adaptation planning, how to secure commitment on climate adaptation, resilience related to integrated adaptation planning and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. The guide also references various general adaptation resources, planning guidelines and tools, risk assessment guidelines and strategies in a number of focus areas.

Go to Resource: http://www.iscvt.org/how_weve_helped/adaptation_cla/ and look for "Climate Adaptation and Resilience Resource Guide" on the right of the page.