"Resilient Coasts Initiative" launched by Ceres, Heinz Center

CSRWire: Ceres and the Heinz Center today announced the launch of the Resilient Coasts Initiative, a first-of-its-kind collaboration of private and public sector groups to find public policy and private market solutions to better protect coastal communities from rising sea levels and other potentially damaging consequences of climate change.

The national project brings together a broad coalition of insurers, regulators, politicians, environmental organizations, real estate developers and investors to address the need for climate adaptation to reduce ever-increasing coastal risks associated with climate change in the United States. Key participants include American International Group, Inc. (AIG), Travelers, Risk Management Solutions and the chief financial officer of the State of Florida.

…With more than the half of the population living along the coast, the United States is acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels and other impacts from climate change. Cities like Miami are just starting to recognize the threat of rising sea levels where even modest sea level rise could threaten billions of dollars of real estate and economic activity. Stronger hurricanes in recent years have already caused tens of billions of dollars of losses along the Gulf Coast.

Over the next 12 months key priorities for the Resilient Coasts Initiative are to identify policy and market-based solutions that may include initiatives to:

• Limit new development in the most vulnerable areas
• Strengthen and upgrade existing buildings to prevent further losses
• Promote infrastructure investments that will help communities adapt to sea level rise….

Sea wall construction in Galveston, Texas, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons