Climate ChangeRenew Boston

CITY OF BOSTON SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN TWO MAJOR CLIMATE AND RESILIENCE INITIATIVES

By October 21, 2019 No Comments

Today Mayor Walsh announced the City of Boston has been selected as a Rockefeller Resilient 100 City and aClimate Action Champion–a new White House program. As a 100 Resilient City (100RC), Boston will have access to  tools, technical expertise and funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO). As a Climate Action Champion, the City will benefit from facilitated peer-to-peer learning and mentorship and targeted support from a range of Federal programs.

100RC is a network helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. The CRO, with support from the 100RC network and input from external stakeholders, will develop a resilience strategy that addresses economic development, transportation, housing, climate change, and the arts.

“We saw an opportunity here, to take an alternative approach to what resilience means – it’s not just environmental, it can also be social,” said Mayor Walsh.

“Boston’s application stood out to our judges for its sophisticated sense of resilience,” said Ryan Whalen, Director for Initiatives and Strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation.

The City was also recognized by the Obama Administration today as part of the first cohort of Climate Action Champions. The White House launched the Climate Action Champions competition earlier this fall to identify and recognize local climate leaders and to provide targeted Federal support to help those communities further raise their ambitions. Boston, along with 15 other cities, was selected from over 60 other cities.

“Boston has made great progress reducing our carbon footprint and preparing for the impacts of climate change, but we still have work to do,” said Mayor Walsh. “These new resources will help Boston implement its updated Climate Action Plan and achieve our climate and sustainability goals.”

In addition to the peer-to-peer learning, mentorship and targeted support, Boston will receive a coordinator to foster coordination and communicate across the Federal agencies, national organizations, and foundations in support of the Champions. The coordinator will assist efforts to raise awareness of funding and technical assistance opportunities that are available specifically for Climate Action Champions.