President Obama has unleashed a set of actions designed to bolster the battle against climate change and help populations here and abroad develop better resilience against drought, sea level rise and other consequences of a shifting climate.
At the core of his announcement, made before the General Assembly at the UN Climate Summit in New York this week, were two initiatives: For the first, he would make more broadly available a set of scientific tools and services that will help vulnerable nations assess the risks and better prepare for threats associated with climate change; and two, he ordered federal agencies to factor climate resilience into the design of international development programs and investments.
The International Research Institute for Climate and Society has been working on both fronts for years – making regular climate forecasts, insuring farmers against bad weather, and using data to better anticipate outbreaks of disease, manage water resources and improve forest management, among other programs.
A group of researchers at the institute has spelled out the details of the institute’s work in a new posting on the IRI website: 8 Ways We Can Strengthen Development and Increase Climate Resilience.
For full details on the president’s initiatives, check out the White House fact sheet here. You can read the executive order here.
