Policy
The Nature Conservancy's Climate Adaptation Policy Efforts
The Nature Conservancy works to inform both public policies and public and private funding with our understanding of science- and field-level approaches. We seek to ensure that climate considerations and the solution-oriented role of ecosystems are hardwired into climate adaptation decision-making across sectors and levels of government. We work to inform these three areas:
Administrative Action
The Administration is actively moving to incorporate climate considerations into agency decision-making. A few key initiatives are underway and important opportunities are on the horizon that present TNC with the opportunity to shape federal plans, actions, and investments for years to come. For example:
- CEQ will be developing guidance for all federal agencies to develop adaptation strategic plans that will ultimately guide agency investments. The opportunity presented is to ensure that ecosystem-based adaptation approaches receive consideration and are implemented amid a spectrum of adaptation options employed by all federal agencies.
- With a mandate from Congress, FWS, in partnership with NOAA and CEQ, will be developing a national adaptation strategy for “fish, wildlife, and plants” applicable to all federal, state, and local agencies that manage natural resources. We will inform that effort based on our extensive on-the-ground experience.
- In response to both need and direction from CEQ, the Departments of State and USAID are developing an international adaptation strategy that will significantly guide US investment in adaptation actions overseas. We will work to inform where and how those investments are made.
- Individual federal agencies are developing strategic plans to integrate climate adaptation approaches specific to their mission areas. We will partner with key agencies in the development of those plans.
Annual Appropriations
We play a leadership role within the conservation community on domestic adaptation appropriations. Federal discretionary spending will be generally flat or declining even as climate impacts become ever more pronounced. Our challenge and mandate is threefold. First, it is to maintain or incrementally grow funding for adaptation whether through new or additional appropriations or by integrating climate considerations into standing and adaptation-relevant programs. Second, we seek to ensure that ecosystem-based adaptation approaches are “eligible” for federal investments in adaptation generally. Finally, we seek to capture a measure of federal funding to further demonstrate the relative advantages of ecosystem-based adaptation through our place-based projects.
Reforming through Reauthorization
There is a legacy of federal statutes that were signed into law long before climate impacts became apparent. In many cases, these laws incentivize maladaptive action. That is, they catalyze investments in a way that will increasingly prove to reduce the adaptive capacity of people and nature. Fortunately, many such laws periodically come up for reauthorization. And through the process of reauthorization a window is created to begin to make the law more “climate-smart,” to forge new diverse partnerships (e.g.: agriculture and insurance sectors), and to educate key stakeholders. For example:
- The Farm Bill annually commits tremendous federal funding to programs across an array of titles, including conservation and forestry, yet does not at all reference climate change despite the fact that the agriculture sector may be significantly imperiled by climate impacts.
- Likewise, the National Flood Insurance Protection Act effectively subsidizes building and redevelopment in flood prone areas even as in many areas flood risk is anticipated to rise sharply. The program now faces a $17B deficit and is of keen interest to the insurance and reinsurance industry.
