Climate change increases the frequency, duration and intensity of storms, floods, fires, and extreme temperatures that threaten the well-being of people across our nation. These variations can increase risks and magnify challenges for state and local governments. Communities are feeling the impacts of a changing climate now, and these multi-hazard trends will continue to increase in severity over the next century.[15] Emergency managers face the task of adapting to both immediate challenges and the long-term impacts of emerging climate risks.
In light of this reality, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 13990 on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis (Jan. 20, 2021); EO 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (Jan. 27, 2021); and EO 14030 on Climate-Related Financial Risk (May 20, 2021), which place climate change at the heart of federal priorities. FEMA recognizes challenges posed by climate change, including more intense storms, frequent heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, prolonged wildfires, extreme flooding and changes in sea levels. Climate change is driving both disaster suffering and costs up and will continue to have increasing impacts on hazard mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery operations as well as the resilience of critical infrastructure and various emergency assets.
Climate adaptation measures can serve as hazard mitigation measures since both efforts have the same goals: long-term risk reduction for people, increased safety for communities, and enhanced community resilience. Successful climate adaptation and hazard mitigation measures can vary depending on the scope of the action but often include changes in processes, behaviors, and infrastructure. The key difference between hazard mitigation and climate adaptation is that hazard mitigation encompasses all natural hazards, including short-term, episodic events that may or may not be connected to climate change. Climate adaptation efforts are focused on mitigating risk and impacts from current or expected climate conditions, so adapting to the expected impacts of climate change is a form of hazard mitigation. A hazard mitigation activity that addresses climate change in its design and approach can help reduce a community’s risk from current and future climate events.
FEMA has issued several policies that facilitate the hazard mitigation of adverse effects from climate change on the built environment, structures and infrastructure. Communities are taking steps to address climate change through the engagement of individuals, households, local leaders, representatives of local organizations, private sector employers, and through existing community networks. Communities are also working to protect themselves and the environment by adopting and updating building codes, encouraging the conservation of natural and beneficial functions of the floodplains, investing in more resilient infrastructure, and engaging in mitigation planning. FEMA plays an important role in supporting community-based resilience efforts, establishing policies, and providing guidance to promote mitigation options that protect critical infrastructure, lifelines and public resources.
Through EO 14030, President Biden reinstated EO 13690 on Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input (Jan. 30, 2015). This executive order re-established the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard to address current and future flood risk and ensure that projects funded with taxpayer dollars last as long as intended. FEMA has begun partial implementation of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standards with the issuance of new policies to increase elevation standards for HMA projects. Refer to Part 4.I and Part 12 for more information about these requirements.[16]
FEMA also encourages communities to engage in environmentally friendly construction practices when implementing hazard mitigation projects, including the use of low embodied carbon concrete, environmentally preferable asphalt, and other low-carbon materials.