The impacts of climate change are here, affecting lives, jobs and the natural environment all around us.
To deal with those threats and prepare for the impacts still to come, SCC, along with nine other state agencies came together to develop a new climate response strategy for Washington, led by the Washington Department of Ecology.
Using the latest science as a foundation, the state’s climate strategy identifies actions that agencies will take to address the top climate change threats facing Washington: drought, changing ocean conditions, flooding, extreme heat, and wildfires and smoke.
What does the statewide climate resilience strategy plan to do?
The Climate Resilience Strategy:
- Prioritizes environmental justice and advances our focus on equity and reducing impacts of climate change on overburdened communities.
- Identifies ways the state can aid climate-response activities by local and tribal governments and others.
- Brings together current climate change response work across multiple agencies and improves the efficiency and coordination of state efforts, including federal funding opportunities.
- Identifies outcomes and actions that address the highest climate change risks and vulnerabilities, including identifying clear agency leads and metrics that enable reporting and transparency on our progress.
The Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) will expand resources and better incorporate climate resilience into its suite of voluntary incentive-based programs. This work helps farmers, ranchers, and other land managers make climate-informed decisions about land management that improve their resilience and provide public benefits. Our programs support issues such as riparian habitats, promote farmland preservation, increase resilience to drought, protect forests from wildfire and enhance safe shellfish harvests.
Get the Washington State Climate Resilience Strategy here.
