The Coastal Conservancy’s Climate Ready Program is helping natural resources and human communities along California’s coast and San Francisco Bay adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Conservancy is also working to capture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere through the conservation of natural and working lands.
The Conservancy seeks to support multi-benefit projects that use natural systems to assist communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change. In December 2018, the Conservancy awarded 12 projects with $3.8 million total for the fifth round of Climate Ready grants. A list of all submitted applications is available here. The grant announcement is posted here. The grant application consists of a cover sheet and project description. There was an informational webinar on May 9. Slides from the presentation can be found here, and a recording is available here. This round of Climate Ready is funded by the Cap-and-Trade program. To find other opportunities for Cap-and-Trade funding, please visit the California Climate Investments page.
Through its Climate Ready Grant rounds, the Conservancy has awarded $10.7 million for 57 projects; click here for a list of projects funded. In addition, the Conservancy is working on dozens of other Climate Ready Projects; examples of these projects are provided below.
The Conservancy is helping many communities assess the vulnerability of their communities and natural resources to sea level rise and create adaptation plans to counter threats of sea level rise. We fund technical tools and studies that help understanding and planning for sea level rise impacts.
The Conservancy is helping to plan, design, and implement living shorelines throughout the state that use oyster beds, wetlands, dunes, and other natural habitats to buffer the impacts of rising seas and increased storm events while providing multiple benefits.
The Conservancy is helping rangeland and agricultural lands adapt to changing climates including grazing operations, grassland restoration, and water and soil conservation projects such as water catchments and storage design.
Climate change has been driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere and the Conservancy is working to protect natural and working lands that remove and capture these gases in photosynthesis. Projects include acquisitions of coastal forests, wetland restoration, carbon banking, and carbon farming.
Global warming, drought, and runoff from extreme storms threaten the well-being of millions of urban residents. Conservancy funding is supporting inner-city projects that are creating shady retreats for residents, conserving rainwater, capturing stormwater pollution, and reducing air temperatures.
Safeguard coastal communities (reduce future risks from climate change).
Use nature-based solutions that provide co-benefits for people, wildlife, and the economy.
Promote collaboration among various stakeholders and multiple sectors. Establish and expand non-traditional alliances to accelerate effective problem-solving between and among public and private resource managers, scientists, and decision-makers.
Reduces GHG emissions or enhances the ability of natural systems to sequester greenhouse gases.
Address the needs of low-income and other underserved coastal populations that will be highly impacted by climate change.
Promote on-the-ground demonstration projects that implement innovative approaches or enhance understanding of effective coastal management strategies and will potentially lead to broader change to policies, regulations, or to duplicating the effort elsewhere.
Incorporates outreach or educational component.
Incorporate the best available science by utilizing peer-reviewed and well-documented climate science, climate adaptation strategies, sea level rise projections, and management practices.
Focus on future climatic and ecological conditions for coastal communities rather than the past.
Maximize short and long term public benefits and capitalize on the inherent abilities for natural coastal systems to adapt to change.
Design actions from a landscape, ecosystem, and watershed perspective on a regional scale.
Account for a high degree of uncertainty by developing and implementing strategies that provide the greatest benefits across a range of possible future climate and sea level rise scenarios.
Flood Risk PSA – Senator Feinstein from Our Bay on the Brink.
To download a PDF of Conservancy’s Climate Ready projects click here.
To download a brochure of the Coastal Conservancy’s Climate Ready program, click here.