Progress report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force
Recommended actions in support of a national climate change adaptation strategy:
This report presents the Task Force’s initial findings and recommendations. In this report, the Task Force has outlined a set of guiding principles, strategic priorities, and near-term actions that are intended to: (i) further focus and strengthen the Federal Government’s efforts on adaptation; and (ii) promote greater coordination and collaboration among stakeholders within and outside the Government to advance a national adaptation strategy. It encompasses disaster planning as a form of climate change adaptation, and incorporates community resilience into ecosystem resilience.
The report follows up on the Federal Government's commitment to prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change, through adaptation. It recommends that the Federal Government focus on a set of overarching goals that are intended to reinforce existing adaptation efforts, harness a range of capabilities and resources across the Federal Government, and build strong partnerships with local, state, regional, Tribal, and international stakeholders to advance a common adaptation agenda: (i) encourage and mainstream adaptation planning across the Federal Government; (ii) improve integration of science into decision making; (iii) address key cross‐cutting issues, such as water resource management, public health, community resilience, insurance mechanisms incorporating climate risks, and ecosystems; (iv) enhance efforts to lead and support international adaptation; and (v) coordinate capabilities of the Federal Government to support adaptation.