Climate change presents urgent, immediate, and long-term challenges to New York City (NYC). The New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) was established to regularly assess the current state of the science on climate change and provide actionable, policy-relevant recommendations for adaptation and resilience for the City.
This NPCC4 chapter introduces the 4th assessment of the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC4). NPCC4 builds on groundbreaking climate assessment work at the state level (e.g., New York State Climate Impacts Assessment) and in the region, especially the Metro East Coast Study and the NPCC’s previous assessment reports: NPCC 1-3, and, as well, the shorter special reports focused on climate risk information published in 2009 and 2013. NPCC4 includes new climate projections of record for NYC and grounds those climate futures in the social fabric of the city.
The 2019 NPCC3 assessment was the first to dedicate a chapter of the report to questions of equity in community vulnerability and adaption. The NPCC4 panel, recognizing the NPCC4 weaves consideration of the equity implications of climate change in every chapter of the report.
NPCC4 offers NYC policymakers, stakeholders, and communities a framework for centering equity, building flexible adaptation pathways, and incorporating sustained assessment processes that continue to evaluate and improve the City’s adaptation and mitigation responses to climate change.
Photo Credit: Coney Island: City of New York Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice