Connecting the Dots: Adaptation + Mitigation Synergies

Since 2006, CCAP has encouraged communities, companies and policymakers to Ask the Climate Question – How will infrastructure, land development, policy and investment decisions affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and vulnerability or resilience to climate change impacts?

We now challenge you to Connect the Dots between climate mitigation and climate adaptation, and implement policies and measures that both reduce GHG emissions and enhance resilience to climate change impacts. As former HUD Deputy Secretary and King County Executive Ron Sims put it, “It’s like breathing and eating” – we must reduce GHGs and adapt. And as Lucille Sering, secretary of the Philippines Climate Change Commission, said at a recent CCAP workshop, “Mitigation is part of our preparedness.”

President Obama’s new Executive Order, “Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change,” and recent Climate Action Plan directs federal agencies to ask the Climate Question and provide policy support and technical assistance to help federal, state and local governments, and private companies answer both parts of the Question — mitigation and adaptation.

The nexus between adapting to a changing climate and reducing GHGs is rarely approached in an integrated fashion. Many climate adaptation measures have GHG mitigation benefits and vice versa, yet too often the synergies only receive cursory attention. CCAP sees great opportunities in focusing on that sweet spot in the center of the Venn diagram.