Climate Equity for Local Government

Overview

Cities, towns and metro regions across the United States and around the globe are engaging in climate action planning. In recent years, the focus of planning has shifted among mitigation, adaptation, and sustainability goals. Best practices now integrate equity. Communities are recognizing that historically marginalized communities often experience the worst impacts from climate change impacts while also not sharing in the benefits from transitioning to a low-carbon economy. These may include Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), the elderly, children, physically and mentally disabled individuals, people experiencing homelessness, pregnant women, immigrants and seasonal workers. Local leaders are increasingly aware that many impacts of climate change reflect the results of systemic discrimination, and they are exploring methods of integrating equity into climate planning while taking advantage of opportunities to address longstanding disparities.

LGEAN's Climate Equity Initiative is a hub of resources and programming for local governments to address the needs and priorities of their most vulnerable populations, including cross-cutting considerations, such as stakeholder engagement, public health, maladaptation and just transition. 

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Programming

Stay tuned for these upcoming programs.

Webinars

  • Equity-Centered Local Climate Action Planning (May 26, 2022)
  • Climate Equity and the Unhoused 
  • Disability-Inclusive Climate Planning 
  • Unintended Consequences and Maladaptive Practices 
  • Climate resilience initiatives as restorative justice

Podcasts

  • Conducting Social Vulnerability Assessments 
  • Health Equity and Climate Planning 
  • Impacts to and Involvement of Immigrant Communities 
  • Partnering with Tribes
  • Youth Action and Involvement

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Resources

Organizations

  • Climate Resolve. Convenes communities, organizations and policymakers to champion equitable climate solutions for both mitigation and adaptation. Areas of focus include urban cooling, transportation, conservation, climate science, communities, wildfire and smart growth. 
  • The Greenlining Institute. Develops and advocates for policy solutions to advance racial equity across multiple public and private sectors. Environmental equity program includes a focus on climate resilience and makes available multiple publications and other resources.  

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Reports

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Repositories

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Mapping Tools

  • EJScreen (EPA). Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, combining environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports.
  • EnviroAtlas (EPA). Interactive tool that decision-makers can use to inform policy and planning in the places where people live, learn, work and play. Provides geospatial data, easy-to-use tools, and other resources related to ecosystem services, their chemical and non-chemical stressors and human health.
  • Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) (U.S. Census Bureau). Interactive tool and datasets providing neighborhood-level information on risk to disaster impacts. The CRE Equity supplement provides quick access to data on a variety of topics concerning social vulnerability and equity.
  • Populations at Risk (Headwater Economics). Generates reports with socioeconomic information about populations more likely to experience adverse social, health, or economic outcomes due to factors like race, age, gender, and poverty status.
  • Neighborhoods at Risk (Headwater Economics). Displays census tracts with greater vulnerability to climate change, particularly where people may experience unequal impacts from hurricanes, flooding, and extreme heat.

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Spotlight Examples

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Health

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Senior Citizens

See more resources on the Senior Citizens page.

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Unhoused/People Experiencing Homelessness

  • Annual Homeless Assessment Reports (AHAR). U.S. Housing & Urban Development reports that provide nationwide estimates of homelessness, including information about the demographic characteristics of homeless persons, service use patterns and the capacity to house homeless persons.
  • Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition. More than 860 local, state, and national organizations dedicated to ensuring the federal response to disaster recovery prioritizes the housing needs of the lowest income people in impacted areas. Led by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Offers multiple programs, publications and other resources.
  • The Global Climate-Homelessness Network. Provides policy, service and research direction as they relate to the implications of climate change for global homelessness.
  • A response framework for addressing the risks of climate change for homeless populations. Article recommending steps, such as prevention-oriented planning and crisis response methods, that local officials can take to support homeless populations affected by climate change-related impacts.

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Children

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Disabilities

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Outdoor Workers

  • Biden Administration Mobilizes to Protect Workers and Communities from Extreme Heat (Fact Sheet, 2021). Announcement of coordinated, interagency effort to respond to extreme heat, involving the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Includes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launch of a rulemaking process to develop a workplace heat standard, enforcement initiative on heat-related hazards and a National Emphasis Program on heat inspections.
  • Heat Illness Prevention Campaign (U.S. Department of Labor). Educates employers and workers on the dangers of working in the heat through training sessions, outreach events, informational sessions, publications, social media messaging and media appearances.
  • Heaty Safety Tool App (Centers for Disease Control/The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). Resource for planning outdoor work activities based on how hot it feels throughout the day. Features real-time heat index and hourly forecasts, specific to the user's location, as well as occupational safety and health recommendations from OSHA and NIOSH.
  • Signs and symptoms and first aid information for heat-related illnesses
  • Too Hot to Work (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2021). Assessment of the threats climate change poses to outdoor workers, including a set of recommendations.
  • Worker health and safety and climate change in the Americas: issues and research needs (Max Kiefer, et. al, 2016). Report that summarizes and discusses current knowledge on the impact that climate change can have on occupational safety and health.

See more resources on the Outdoor Workers page.

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Funding/Financing Resources

  • Check out financing resources here.

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