Climate Adaptation & Resilience

Communities across New England and around the country are experiencing climate change through rising seas, warmer temperatures, increased frequency and intensity of precipitation and flooding, and more extreme weather events. We help states, local governments, tribes, and the private sector plan and pay for the infrastructure necessary to protect critical environmental resources and foster resilient communities.

Services

Projects

Policy Recommendations for Funding and Financing State Climate Action

NEEFC contributed to policy recommendations on funding and financing to inform a 2024 update of Maine’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait. As part of the Maine Climate Council’s Community Resilience Working Group, we helped evaluate strategies for adaptation and resilience to climate change and develop new recommendations to ensure funding is available to pursue the actions proposed in the plan and accessible to the Maine communities and priority populations who need it.

Community Resilience Partnership

Tools, resources, and direct technical assistance to help communities enroll in Maine’s Community Resilience Partnership, prepare for the effects of climate change, and secure funding for resilience priorities.

Casco Bay Coastal Academy

Casco Bay Coastal Academy is a quarterly workshop series aimed at building the knowledge base of municipal board members, municipal staff, and others about critical coastal issues, and providing skills training to support their project planning and implementation.

Climate Resilience Funding Workshops

These series of workshops offer knowledge sharing, idea exchange, and real-world advice and inspiration on how to finance sustainable community actions to achieve climate resilience. Participants are led through successive sessions that build upon one another, from understanding what grant agencies look for in their applications, to beginning the process of establishing sustainable financing sources.

Resources

Climate action and the Inflation Reduction Act: A guide for local government leaders. This guide book includes details about the allocation process, strategic action, eligible projects, related provisions, and additional recourse for local governments. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is the largest investment in climate action the United States has ever made and will provide $369 billion for climate solutions across the country.

Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Planning for New England Communities: First Steps and Next Step

Full Report | Summary

This guide synthesizes the array of accessible, relatively low-cost online tools that smaller communities around the nation, and particularly in New England, may find helpful to plan for climate adaptation and resilience. These tools include guidelines, models and visualization tools, communication guidelines, financing adaptation measures, and case studies.

Navigating the Federal Funding Landscape: A Guide for Communities. This guide was developed with small- and mid-sized villages, towns, cities, and tribes in mind to help these communities align priorities with available funding and serve as a jumping-off point for additional research, before investing time and energy into the application process. This guide provides a snapshot of more than 20 major federal funds that support local environmental and climate-related priorities.

Find these and other resources on the Resource page.