Infrastructure Vulnerability

American towns and cities are vulnerable to climate change because of their great concentrations of people, economic activity and infrastructure.

According to the world’s largest insurance company, Munich Re, direct losses from large or globally significant natural catastrophes increased 14 times between the 1950s and 1990s.

This trend is consistent in the US. It takes the form of floods, heat waves, wildfires, more intense and variable weather episodes like extreme rainfall and hurricanes that we see with increasing frequency.

With vast assets in facilities, parks, roads, bridges, waterfronts, dykes, water and sewage networks, climate change creates significant risks for local governments.

With a stake in the prosperity and safety of citizens who depend on this infrastructure, and live in homes that are equally vulnerable, local governments are on the front line.

Because carbon dioxide generated from burning oil, coal and gas stays in the atmosphere for so long, we are already committed to certain impacts.

Targets & Timetables

The UN Climate Convention’s ultimate objective is to “prevent dangerous climate change.” To achieve this objective, the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report concludes emission growth must be reversed within a decade and reductions of 50 to 85 percent by 2050 will be necessary.

The technologies and practices to achieve these targets exist today. Former World Bank Chief Economist Nicholas Stern’s comprehensive review of climate change economics concludes we can achieve atmospheric stability if we start investing annually one per cent of global domestic product on emission reductions. Failure to do so will result in a five to twenty per cent annual loss in GDP through climate change impacts.

Hundreds of local governments across the country are beginning to take action on their own or through growing efforts by local government associations.