Ecology welcomes public comment on draft Climate Resilience Strategy
The Department of Ecology has released a draft of Washington’s Climate Resilience Strategy and is looking to gather public feedback from individuals and communities across the state starting at midnight Monday, June 11, until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 11.
As Washington’s lead agency on climate change, we’re working to update the state's current Climate Response Strategyby Sept. 30, 2024, as directed by the Legislature under the Integrated Climate Change Response Strategy (Chapter 70A.05 RCW). Learn how we intend to lessen the impacts of climate change on the people of Washington — especially those most vulnerable and facing systemic inequities.
Open our public comment period from June 11 through July 11 and solicit feedback from individuals and communities across the state on the draft strategy.
Host virtual listening sessions to share our work and hear feedback.
Continue to advance our work on indicators and metrics that will be used to measure progress of actions over time.
What you can do
Watch recordings of our winter 2023 online listening sessions:
What will a statewide climate change resilience strategy do?
Our updated Climate Resilience Strategy will:
Prioritize environmental justice and continue our focus on equity and reducing impacts of climate change on overburdened communities.
Identify ways the state can aid climate-response activities by local and tribal governments and others.
Bring together current climate change response workacross multiple agencies and improve the efficiency and coordination of state efforts, including federal funding opportunities.
Identify outcomes and actions that address the highest climate change risks and vulnerabilities, including identifying clear agency leads and metrics that enable reporting and transparency on our progress.
How will we develop the strategy?
To update the strategy, we'll:
Convene an interagency team of 10 state agencies to assist in developing the strategy.
Seek technical and scientific advice from the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group. This group will also serve as a clearinghouse for state agencies on climate impact data and information, including making scientific information available online in a central resource.
Engage a wide array of interested groups in the process.
Incorporate criteria for prioritizing actions and meet other requirements for the strategy.
