Climate Risk and Equity: Advancing Knowledge Toward a Sustainable Future – Conclusions

Introduction

Navigating present and future climate risks and related socio-economic challenges facing New York City (NYC) will require tradeoffs and compromises negotiated through constructive and scientifically informed public dialogue. To plan and act, community-based organizations, businesses, city government, and other stakeholders will need to continue to integrate scientific and technical information with community values and knowledge.

The New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) was established by the City to provide analysis and synthesis of the current science on climate change to inform this needed public dialogue.

This chapter provides an overview of the major themes, findings, and recommendations from the NPCC’s 4th Assessment (NPCC4). NPCC4 builds on the prior three NPCC assessments, providing updated climate projections while deepening areas of prior reports on flooding, health, and equity. It crafts two new areas of emphasis – on energy and energy insecurity, and tools for future visioning and planning – that further understanding of the impacts of climate risks on the human and ecological systems of NYC.

This chapter includes summary statements from each chapter of the assessment which identify salient and pressing issues raised and provides recommendations for future research and for enhancement of climate resiliency.

The chapter also outlines a set of broader recommendations for future NPCC work and identifies key topics for the next (5th) assessment.

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Photo Credit: Kingsland Wildflowers: City of New York Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice

Authors

Deborah Balk, Ph.D. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, New York, NY., CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York, NY.

Christian Braneon, Ph.D. CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York, New York, NY., NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY., Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY.

Robin Leichenko, Ph.D. Department of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

Richard Moss, Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

Joel Towers, MArch. Parsons School of Design, New York, NY., The New School, NY., The Tishman Environment and Design Center, The New School, New York, NY.

Ana Baptista, Ph.D. The New School, New York, NY., The Tishman Environment and Design Center, The New School, New York, NY.

Sheila Foster, JD. Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY.

Radley Horton, Ph.D. Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, NY.

Kim Knowlton, Ph.D. Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY.

Nicole Maher, Ph.D. The Nature Conservancy, New York, NY.

Thomas Matte, Ph.D. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, NY.

Peter Marcotullio, Ph.D. Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY.

Katherine McComas, Ph.D. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Timon McPhearson, Ph.D. Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, NY., Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE.

Franco Montalto, Ph.D. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA., eDesign Dynamics LLC, New York, NY

Philip Orton, Ph.D. Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

Bernice Rosenzweig, Ph.D. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY.

John Kuo Wei Tchen, Ph.D. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

Gernot Wagner, Ph.D. Columbia Business School, New York, NY.

Luis Ortiz, Ph.D. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Jennifer Ventrella, Doctoral Candidate The New School, New York, NY.

Liv Yoon, Ph.D. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Authors

Summary

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