(Credit: Pixabay)New Orleans has joined the North America Climate Resilience Program as a "Champion City." Established in 2021, the program is designed to strengthen climate resilience and help address social inequities in communities where existing stresses combined with growing climate shocks makes them even more vulnerable. The program focuses on two "Action Cities," Houston and Boston, where it is working with community leaders to provide diagnostic support on analysis of the challenges, tools to measure community resilience, project resources and, ultimately, funds to implement solutions that will incorporate a holistic approach to resilience and social equity.
As a "Champion City," New Orleans will work alongside the "Action Cities," sharing experiences and best practices and helping to develop solutions that can be implemented in New Orleans and other cities facing similar climate-related challenges. New Orleans will benefit from local community site visits and tool testing and contribute with the other cities to the learning and implementation over the coming years.
The North America Climate Resilience Program is a collaboration between Zurich North America, Resilient Cities Network, and the Z Zurich Foundation, which provided the initial funding. Zurich North America will help administer the overarching program with Resilient Cities Network, which will identify neighborhoods, convene community and government partners, and deploy its Resilient Community Impact Fund to catalyze direct funding support into projects.
The North America Climate Resilience Program is actively seeking additional investors to fund the work to be done in these communities.
