11. Conduct early stage activities that will show progress and build trust

Overview

Now comes the fun part – the projects and programs that will build the momentum of regional adaptation work. At this point, your collaborative should be in a great position to identify high-value projects that can garner attention to your focus areas, build community engagement with adaptation, and contribute to long-term preparedness in your region.

Working with the City of Los Angeles we helped enact a unique climate adaptation measure – amending the city’s building code, mandating all new and refurbished rooftops to use certified “cool” materials. When in January of 2014 Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the ordinance, The City of Los Angeles got to put a major climate win under its belt. Adapting to warming temperature needn’t break the bank nor necessitate the creation of an entirely new bureaucracy. It just takes smart planning.

– Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director, Climate Resolve

Early stage activities should build a track record for your regional adaptation collaborative. These projects should unite members around shared successes. Ideally, early stage activities should demonstrate to the region as a whole the value of your collaborative and incentivize the region to engage with your collaborative on other projects in the future. Robust engagement will hinge on feedback mechanisms that communicate the outcomes of early stage activities to stakeholders.

Tools & Resources

Hot City, Cool Roofs campaign: LARC and Climate Resolve working with the City of Los Angeles to adopt policies that curb the urban heat island effect (UHIE). Mayor Villaraigosa tasked LA Building & Safety to adopt Cal Green codes that address UHIE, specifically mandating cool roofs on most residences, and tasked LA DWP to expand their existing incentives to new rooftops, offsetting any additional cost associated with cool roofs. Expand to other municipalities by the end of year.

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Study for the City of Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles + USC Sea Grant, NOAA, ICLEI, Scripps and others. Includes an assessment of the City’s coastal and shoreline assets and the physical, social, economic, and ecological vulnerabilities from sea level rise.

San Diego Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy: The Strategy was developed with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability by a broad collaborative of San Diego entities and stakeholders and provides recommendations for building the resilience of the Bay’s community assets.

San Diego County’s 2015 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update: The County of San Diego’s Office of Emergency Services is working with ICLEI, climate scientists and all cities and agencies participating in the 2015 update of the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, to assess how to reduce our region’s risk to local climate impacts such as increasingly intense drought, wildfires and heat waves.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories and Climate Planning: In 2009-10, all local governments in the San Diego region developed baseline inventories of greenhouse gas emissions. Two-thirds of agencies have adopted or are now creating and implementing climate action plans to reduce emissions as well as begin to analyze how to prepare for climate change impacts.