EPA's Role in International Climate Adaptation and Resilience

EPA provides an array analytical and capacity building tools and technical and experiential expertise to broad-based international partners focused on local and regional scale efforts to adapt, build resilience, and develop more sustainably.

Policy Framework for International Climate Adaptation and Resilience

In January 2021, President Biden issued an Executive oder (EO 14008) calling upon U.S. Government Agencies and others to help communities adapt and build resilience at home and abroad, to the observed and anticipated impacts of climate change.  Shortly thereafter in September 2022, the White House announced the launch of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE Action Plan) at COP 27.   While both documents together embody the breadth of America’s commitment to helping communities adapt and build resilience to the intensifying climate crisis, placing climate at the center of U.S. foreign policy and national security, the PREPARE Action Plan specifically lays out America’s contribution to the global effort to build resilience to the impacts of the climate crisis in developing countries.

While some of the work described below predates the advent of EO 14008 and the PREPARE Action Plan, the entire body of work is fully consistent with the substance and intent of both documents.  See the links below for additional background information.

Statement from White House on tackling the climate crisis at home and aboard

Statement from White House on helping the world prepare

PREPARE Action Plan

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Current and Legacy Work

• UNEP Global Adaptation Network (GAN)
• Durban Adaptation Charter (DAC)
• EPIC (Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities)
• Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
• EPA Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X Toolbox)
• OECD Joint DAC-EPOC Task Team on Climate Change and Development

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UNEP Global Adaptation Network (GAN)

​Learn more:

• Global Adaptation Network (GAN) 

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Durban Adaptation Charter (DAC)

The Durban Adaptation Charter for Local Governments (DAC) was the outcome of a local government convention held in Durban, South Africa, in December 2011.  By signing the DAC, elected officials agreed to take actions to adapt to climate change and build resilience. To date, approximately 1000 elected local and urban government officials from developing country cities and municipalities have signed the DAC. In 2012, EPA and several international partners began efforts to transform the DAC from a pledge to an action-based platform for facilitating the sharing of knowledge, tools, information and experiences between and among developing country cities, and between and among developing and developed country cities, and for facilitating trainings on urban, locally-led adaptation and resilience. 

Notable DAC accomplishments to date include:

• Sharing of adaptation measures and management practices, through city-to-city exchanges involving Durban South Africa and Fort Lauderdale/Broward County FL, USA; Durban South Africa and the cities of Nacala, Quelimane and Pemba in Mozambique; Durban South Africa and Mombasa Kenya; Durban South Africa and Lusaka Zambia; Durban south Africa and Dar es Salaam Tanzania; and between Durban and Mpumalanga South Africa.  The East African DAC regional workshop also involved most counties from Tanzania and South Africa. The South African Regional Workshop conducted a learning exchange with the major metro areas within South Africa.
• Development of a Durban-based local climate adaptation compact (Central KwaZulu-Natal Climate Change Compact or CKZNCCC) to coordinate regional adaptation and resilience activities.  The Durban compact was modeled after the SE Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. In early 2019, CKZNCCC members agreed to work together to implement several community-based river management projects.
• In 2017 the Northern Mozambican cities of Nacala, Pemba, Quelimane, Mocimboa da Praia and Ilha de Moçambique formed the Compact of Northern Mozambique Coastal Cities, modeled after the SE Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
• In 2019, the South African Province of Mpumalanga established the Mpumalanga Compact modeled after the SE Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
• Discussions are currently underway between Durban, South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; Harare, Zimbabwe; Mombasa, Kenya; and Windhoek, Namibia regarding the development of climate compacts in these cities modeled after the CKZNCCC in Durban.
• The South African government has also urged all major metro areas in South Africa to form local compacts modeled after the CKZNCC in Durban.

Many DAC cities and regional compact members are now engaged in implementing the EPIC (see below) model as an additional tool to help local governments and communities increase their capacity to adapt, build resilience and develop more sustainably.  While there is no longer a DAC secretariat or secretariat function, prior to the Paris Climate Agreement the DAC was one of the longest adaptation-focused initiatives in existence offering insights to other cities of the Global South on pathways to adaptation action.  And despite the absence of a DAC secretariat or secretariat function, many of the core principles of the DAC were subsumed into the Paris Climate Agreement and continue to be adopted and replicated in many cities in the Global South.

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EPIC (Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities)

The EPIC model pairs local governments and communities with university students and faculty, to enhance local capacity to enact effective solutions to address adaptation, resilience and local development. To date, the EPIC model has been implemented by more than 70 university-based programs in more than 350 diverse institutions/communities worldwide, resulting in more than 1800 projects being completed while mobilizing more than a million hours of expert-supervised student contributions to addressing issues of concern to local communities.

In 2017, EPA worked with the EPIC Network Secretariat and other international partners to present the EPIC model (which originated in North America) for the first time, to cities and universities from developing countries globally through a training workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the UN Global Adaptation Network (GAN).  In November 2017, a second regional training on the EPIC model in Cape Town, South Africa for sub-Saharan cities and universities led to the formation of the EPIC Africa regional network.

With support from the international START (global changes SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training) program, in early 2020, members of the EPIC Africa regional network, along with OITA and several other international partners, including the UN GAN and the EPIC Network Secretariat, hosted the first Africa-led EPIC training for other Africans in Durban, South Africa, thereby expanding the EPIC Africa regional network of African cities and universities implementing the EPIC model in their respective settings. Ten pairs of university and local government officials participated. 

Since early 2018, several EPIC projects in Africa have been completed in Lusaka, Zambia; Nairobi, Kenya; Durban, South Africa; Nacala, Mozambique; and Mombasa, Kenya. Additional EPIC projects are currently underway in many of these same cities.

Highlights of some of these outputs/outcomes to date include:

• In Lusaka, Zambia, officials worked with universities to produce detailed maps showing which areas were most prone to risks related to flooding, sewage, and unmanaged trash. This information was a key input in the production of a strategic plan to redevelop the Kanyama informal settlement. The EPIC model has already saved Lusaka over $100,000 while providing practical learning opportunities to area students. More recently, the University worked with the City Council to develop a set of Covid-19 community safety protocols.
• In Durban, South Africa, students completed the mapping of sources and types of solid waste and waste discharge from dwellings into flood-prone areas within the Palmiet informal community and most importantly, took part in the development and implementation of a disaster response system for the Quarry Road West Informal Settlement (QRWIS), developed adaptation measures for settlement shacks and helped develop and implement a Community Flood Early Warning System for the same community.  Students also worked with local community leaders to manage waste, clear drainages, and help restore ecosystems along the banks of the flood-prone Palmiet River area as a means of improving community health and resilience and preventing floods. QRWIS community leaders are now sharing their best practices and lessons learned with community leaders in six other South African watersheds.  During the Covid era students also engaged in a study on access to hygiene services and how Covid was affecting residents of the QRWIS.
• In Nairobi, Kenya, based in part on the ideas and early work of students from the University of Nairobi, the governor of Nairobi contracted UN Habitat and the Stockholm Environment Institute to remove waste. make infrastructure repairs and improvements along a pilot section of Luthuli Street in the central business district (CBD), as part of a larger effort to encourage safe multi-modal transportation, especially walking and bicycling, within the CBD    Parts of the CBD have since been significantly improved and made more inviting and safe, thereby generating more pedestrian traffic and attracting customers to the small businesses located in the CBD.
• In Mombasa, Kenya, the local university worked with local government officials to produce a unique set of Covid-19 safety protocols permitted sanitizing the hands of thousands of people ferrying into and out of Mombasa each day while remaining sensitive to Muslim religious norms.
• In Nacala, Mozambique, as a result of an EPIC partnership, local governments and communities have implemented an early warning system for dangerous weather and climate events.  Local government officials have also set in motion an initiative to replant mangroves along the coast as an ecosystem-based way to enhance the coastal resilience of Nacala.

Similarly, with support from the GAN, in May 2021, the EPIC Network and its partners hosted a first training workshop on the EPIC model for university and local government officials from various parts of Asia/SE Asia with over 60 university and local government representatives in attendance.  Since then several EPIC projects from various parts of SE Asia have been completed or are near completion.

Highlights of some of these outputs/outcomes to date include:

• In Seberang, Malaysia, the Seberang Perai City Council called upon students from the Sultan Edris Education University to establish a local farmer-youth capacity-building training program consisting of a hands-on and a virtual training on technology in agriculture program to empower local farmers and youth to increase their income via the adoption of sustainable smart composting techniques and polyculture farming including aquaponics-hydroponics and fertigation.   The over-arching goal of this effort was to encourage sustainable, climate smart agricultural practices to enhance community income through a greener agro-economy.  
• In Long Xuyen City,  Vietnam,  the City of Long Xuyen called upon students from An Giang University to provide options for for ameliorating frequent flooding in parts of the city.  Students set about using GIS software and on-site mapping to map drainage systems and urban flooding areas, especially frequently inundated areas in local wards and in the city Center.  Students also proposed city initiatives on sustainable drainage and waterlogging management that would contribute to the City’s “Smart Water City” action plan by factoring in projected climate changes.   Students and local officials also collaborated to document the inadequacy of existing drainage systems as well as the lack of complete drainage systems along many streets, and identified possible pathways to a more sustainable and climate-proof city. 
• In Hat Yai, Thailand, students from Thammasat University worked with the Hat Yai Municipality to develop ideas and plans to help transform the municipality into a “Green City” while developing protocols to deal with its climate vulnerabilities.  Students provided the Municipality with was options for increasing green public spaces, reducing urban greenhouse gases emissions and reducing energy consumption, increase the use of renewable energy, and help reduce and eliminate deaths from flooding events, out to 2027. 
• Calamba, Philippines has proven to be  most vulnerable to climate changes. Despite various measures on the part of the local government, the city and the wider province still suffer extensive damage brought about by typhoons, flooding, and landslides.  In response to this situation, various city departments and agencies collaborated with the University of the Philippines Los Baños to identify ways to enhance disaster preparedness of lakeshore communities in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines.   Student assessments and recommendations on the lakeshore community disaster plans were distributed to the city and affected communities who were encouraged to consider the recommendations put forward and revise their disaster risk reduction plans accordingly.
• In response to a request by the City of Manado, Indonesia, to update and improve the city’s flood early warning system. Students at the Politeknik Negeri Manado (Manado State Polytechnic) assessed the city’s current flood early warning system and provided recommendations for updating and improving the system.

Most recently, in August and September of 2022, the GAN and the EPIC Network Secretariat sponsored two training workshops on the EPIC tool for officials in several Latin American cities.  Those training events have thus far resulted in the initiation of 10 EPIC projects in communities in various parts of Mexico, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.

In addition, in 2024 EPA, the UN Global Adaptation Network, and the international START Program co-sponsored 4 EPIC training workshops for Monrovia Liberia, Lusaka Zambia, Mombasa Kenya, and Banjul Gambia.  By way of update, the Mombasa Kenya and Lusaka Zambia training events took place in April, while the Monrovia Liberia training workshop is slated to take place in early October.

Most notably however, the first EPIC Training workshop in West Africa took place earlier this August in Banjul, in the Gambia where trainers form the EPIC Africa Network conducted a two-day training workshop on the make-up and implementation of the EPIC (Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities) capacity-building tool on August 12 &13.  On hand for the training were officials from Ministries, Departments, agencies and officials from the University of the The Gambia.  The training in Banjul was warmly received and represents a further expansion of the growing network of implementers of the EPIC tool that is currently being implemented in a number of other cities in Africa. 

To celebrate and memorialize the EPIC Africa network’s expansion into West Africa we wish to direct your attention to the accompanying slide show of images from the training workshop that took place in Banjul, in the Gambia.

 Learn more:

• Official Website: EPIC Network 
• May 21, 2024 Presentation on EPIC and ARC-X capacity building tools at the U.S.-Jiangsu Climate Adaptation Workshop, May 21-22, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, PRC (pptx) (23 MB)
• Presentation on the use of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities capacity-building tool in African cities and communities, delivered to Young African Leaders in attendance at the Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit, July 30, 2024 (pptx) (32.52 MB)

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Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Starting In 2021, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) launched a competitive award program to provide grants for community-based  climate-focused projects as part of  CEC’s newly launched EJ4Climate (Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience) Grant Program.  Initiated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the EJ4Climate Grant Program provides awards to community-based organizations for locally led projects that target underserved and vulnerable communities, as well as Indigenous communities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, for the purposes of preparing for and building resilience to climate-related impacts.  Awards under this program are typically capped at $200,000.00 per recipient.  See links below for additional information on CEC and the EJ4Climate Grants Program.

Commission For Environmental Cooperation

The Climate Grant Program

The following are accounts of what communities have thus far been able to accomplish to adapt and become more climate resilient.

2021 Project Awards

A Community-Led Nature-Based Solution to Building a Resilient Economy Using Ecosystem Services – Native Village of Eyak, Alaska

The Native Village of Eyak (NVE) has experienced economic multiple contemporaneous stresses originating from oil spills, climate change, and ocean acidification in Prince William Sound, the traditional waters of the Eyak people. Warming waters and ocean acidification, have also contributed significantly to the decline in traditional foods and economic drivers in the region. In response, the Native Peoples of Eyak and their partner, Ocean Forest, set about developing a more resilient and sustainable blue economy through the use and management of ecosystem services via the introduction of mariculture (kelp farming) in Prince William Sound, Alaska.  The process started with the construction of a kelp farm using reclaimed materials while simultaneously creating a mariculture tribal youth training program that is aiding the Village’s mariculturists so that youth learn how to grow kelp generationally.  Additional ecosystem services provided by kelp farms, in addition to economic benefits for Tribal members, include building habitat for marine life and insuring food security for the Eyak community.   In time, Eyak seeks to become a leader of a resilient new sustainable, climate smart industry.  To date, the Village has planted over 15,000 feet of sugar kelp (Project Completed).

Community-Led Nature-Based Marsh Restoration - Grand Bayou Indian Village, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

In the past several decades, Grand Bayou Indian Village has lost a significant amount of land and shoreline due to a combination of man-made interventions, low elevation, land subsidence, and climate change.  Climate change is threatening the shoreline through sea level rise, more intense storm surges, and increased erosion.  These disasters have stripped the community of essential defenses against storm surge and flooding, as well as vital economic, cultural, and social resources.  In addition, because Grand Bayou is outside the protection of the State’s levee system, and because the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha tribal community lacks federal recognition, access to resources that would otherwise enable the community to become more resilient to these stresses, are largely unavailable.  In response, the Grand Bayou Indian Village and its partners, Common Ground Relief, the Coastal Re-Vegetation Program of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and the First People’s Conservation Council of Louisiana, have been working together to mitigate the impacts of coastal land loss and climate change by restoring marsh land and native marsh grasses drawing in part, upon the Village’s expertise and traditional ecological knowledge (Near Completion).

Community-Led Efforts to Adapt and Build Resilience to Climate Change, and Develop a More Sustainable Livelihood - Town of Princeville, North Carolina

The town of Princeville, NC has been repeatedly battered by hurricanes, floods, more intense storms, and precipitation events.  As part of an ongoing effort to enhance the resilience of people and property, the Town of Princeville, NC and its partners, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) and the North Carolina State University Coastal Dynamics Design Lab Conservation Corps, have engaged begun implementing a multi-phased plan of action to enhance the Town’s resilience, especially to devastating flood events.  More specifically, the town and its partners have set about installing 6,000 square feet of stormwater bioretention cells and rain gardens on 2 parcels of land capable of holding 27,740 gallons of water per rain event, create, planting 50 trees and thousands of native and ecologically adapted ornamental plants to create 100 square feet of pollinator habitat while providing 250,000 gallons of water absorption and 2,900 pounds of carbon storage per year, and launch of a 24-bed community garden on vacated lots to energize community members around healthier life options while  promoting local low-carbon agriculture.  In addition, tree plantings along Main Street are designed to absorb excess stormwater, sequester carbon emissions, and provide shade and heat relief for pedestrians.  Vacant, town-owned properties are being converted to managed wetlands that create a park-like amenities that also capture standing water after flood events.   (Near Completion).

A Community-Led Nature-Based Approach to Building Local Resilience and Food Security by Restoring Soil and Soil Fertility – Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Silver City, Grant County, NM

Climate-driven fire, drought, water scarcity, and extreme heat increasingly threaten food security in the culturally diverse and economically challenged community of Grant County, New Mexico.   Like much of the Southwestern US, Grant County is facing the ongoing threat of long-term drought and aridification which is directly negatively impacting soil quality and community food security.  In response to these and future climate threats, the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance (UGWA) in Grant County has been working with the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) and volunteers from the community to implement a project aimed at restoring soils and soil fertility capable of growing food crops locally in a water-stressed region.  To date, seven bioreactors have been built thus far and additional bioreactors are being installed on school campuses to simultaneously address food waste, fire risk, and food insecurity in Grant County.  In addition, local forests are being periodically thinned to reduce the threat of forest fires while the by-products of the thinning process, along with food waste, are converted into compost capable of restoring soils necessary for growing crops.  (Near Completion).

Witness Trees Project – A Nature-Based, Community-Led Approach to Creating Local Greenspace to Strengthen Climate Resilience and Honor African American Cultural Heritage - Turner Station, Baltimore, MD

Residents of Turner Station, MD have been historically underserved and under-resourced rendering community members disproportionately affected by climate change, most notably extreme heat events and air pollution, with no access to healthier more resilient green spaces that typically offer relief from heat and poor air quality, while also serving as comfortable and healthy gathering places for community members to enjoy and share oral histories and stories.
The Witness Trees Project is a multi-phase, multi-year undertaking aimed at making the historically black Turner Station community more resilient to heat stress brought about by climate change, provide environmental leadership development opportunities for Turner Station, and highlight community stories about Turner Station’s past, present and future.  Phase 1 of this project has already resulted in the planting of over 140 trees and the building of over nine story posts in 2.5 acres of open space.  Tree planting is intended to sequester carbon, reduce heat stress by cooling people, homes, and streets, and help cleanse the air of pollutants.  Longer term outcomes include the planting at least 400 new trees, training local youth to serve as Urban Tree Stewards, educate the community on present and future threats from climate change, draft community greening plans to guide further restoration and resiliency work, and memorialize among the newly planted trees additional oral histories from local elders.  (Near Completion).

2022 Project Awards

Puerto Rico - Project implementers and partners have initiated a program of work to culturally adapt and translate the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC) climate and resilience education program into Spanish for Puerto Rico. OPAS will pilot the RiSC program with two schools located in the frontline coastal municipality of Loiza and develop a set of “Climate Resilience Education Guidelines for Puerto Rico’s schools” providing a new model for climate resilience education that can be scaled up and replicated in the rest of the island.  (In Progress).

Sonora Mexico and Southern Arizona - Marginalized and fragmented Tribal communities in the Sonora Mexico and Southern AZ regions have long suffered from socio-economic inequities compounded by poor land management that has caused accelerated erosion, water scarcity, and loss of native species in a setting projected to witness higher temperatures and reduced rain events.  In response to these circumstances and events, this coalition has embarked on a series of community-led, cross-cultural skill-sharing events focused on stitching back together fragmented lands and communities to identify and implement a network of arid lands climate adaptation solutions.  (In Progress).
 
O’ahu Hawaii - Mālama Loko Ea Foundation, Hawai’i has initiated a comprehensive plan to restore traditional Hawaiian aquaculture practices that will inform the development of a sustainable ecosystem and community. Fishponds have proven to be vulnerable to a variety of climate change impacts such as sea level rise, changes in precipitation patterns, rising air and ocean temperatures, ocean acidification and more frequent intense extreme storm events.  This project will restore Loko ea Fishpond, a historically significant cultural site nestled on the North Shore of Oʻahu, utilizing traditional ecosystem knowledge and climate observations and projections to create and manage a sustainable food source and establish long-term food security (In Progress).
 
Pomo Indians California - The Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, California has embarked on a project that combines TEK and data-driven monitoring as part of a Nature-Based approach to restoring shorelines around Clear Lake and restoring riparian corridors all of which have suffered climate-driven ecological imbalances.  Tribal youth will be employed to ground-truth aerial maps and lead the restoration of shorelines and tule habitats through replanting of propagated tule seeds and plugs.  Youth will also assist with water quality monitoring, fish/tule tissue sampling, and community outreach and thereafter co-manage culturally significant aquatic species and associated habitats and provide policy contributions for climate action/adaption/mitigation plans for Clear Lake and Tribal beneficial uses (In Progress).
 
Spokane, Coleville and Kalispel Tribes, Washington - Conservation Northwest (CNW) is working collaboratively with Spokane, Coleville, and Kalispel Tribal partners in Washington to advance nursery and restoration efforts and promote traditional prescribed burning for native plant conservation as a means of enhancing cultural and climate resilience.  The project represents the launch of a collaborative effort to address environmental and human health vulnerabilities in eastern Washington tribal communities and to strengthen cultural and climate resilience through Indigenous land stewardship.  The project will increase capacity to successfully cultivate traditional foods and native plants, to lead tribal natural resource projects, achieve a greater understanding of the Salish language, and restore riparian and prairie ecosystems (In Progress).

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EPA Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X)

ARC-X is an interactive resource or toolbox designed to capacitate local government officials to lead efforts within their communities to adapt and build resilience to current and anticipated climate changes locally and regionally.  It is an integrated package of information tailored specifically to address the needs of local leaders and their communities.

Among the many tools and climate services housed within the toolbox, perhaps the most sought-after tools are those used for assessing climate risk, designing implementation strategies, case studies of communities who have adapted to local risks, as well as steps for seeking technical support.

The ARC-X was originally designed, and recently updated, to help all 40,000 communities across the US anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.  The toolbox is presently being used by over 40,000 users on an annual basis in all 50 states in the U.S.   
 
Although ARC-X was originally designed specifically for use by State and local officials in the US, the toolbox no doubt contains tools that are likely to be replicable in other settings internationally.  Anticipating potential interest in the toolbox among state and local officials internationally, EPA has adopted a policy of making the underlying computer code and content of the ARC-X system available to interested parties internationally, free of charge.  Having access to the underlying code would allow state and local governments internationally, to customize the code to develop an analogous toolbox and suite of tools that best suites their unique needs and customs.

By way of example, since 2021, EPA officials have been working with CETESB the Environmental Agency of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil and a local university partner, to develop a custom version their own ARC-X system that would best suite the specific needs, circumstances, and norms of the city of Sao Paulo.  

For more information on ARC-X

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OECD Joint DAC-EPOC Task Team on Climate Change and Development

From 2011-2015, EPA participated in the Joint Development Assistance Committee-Environment Policy Committee (DAC-EPOC) Task Team on Climate Change and Development Co-Operation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to assess the effectiveness and cost of climate resilience and adaptation measures.

During this period, the following reports on resilience and adaptation were published as part of this cooperative effort. The last in this series of reports, Climate Change Risks and Adaptation: Linking Policy and Economics, was originally published in 2015, and updated in 2020.

• Monitoring and Evaluation for Adaptation: Lessons from Development Co-operation Agencies
• Private Sector Engagement in Adaptation to Climate Change: Approaches to Managing Climate Risks
• National Adaptation Planning: Lessons from OECD Countries
• Climate Change Risks and Adaptation: Linking Policy and Economics 

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Contacts

For additional information on EPA's international climate adaptation and resilience initiatives, contact: