By Anne Miller
As climate impacts intensify, increasingly states are establishing Resiliency Offices to provide coordinated statewide actions to reduce risks and protect communities, businesses, vital infrastructure, and the environment. Colorado has been leading on resilience since 2013 in response to major flooding.
Since that time, the Colorado Resiliency Office (CRO) in the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has grown into a holistic resilience coordination hub.
“The Colorado Resiliency Office plays an essential role in coordination and collective action to proactively reduce risks from climate change and other disasters,” said Rick Garcia, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
“We know the public sector, local and state governments can lean in and lead the way together,” added Chantal Unfug, Director of the Division of Local Government, “through resilient land use planning, creating sustainable transportation strategies, and investing in green infrastructure.”
This Colorado leadership was demonstrated in the past two weeks as topics of climate resilience have been at the forefront of national and international news, at the annual meeting of National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) in Tampa, Fla., and at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, where CRO was highlighted in two national reports.
During the NCSL on November 3, 2021, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), and National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) released a report that outlines specific recommendations for how governors and legislatures can establish and support chief resilience officers to meet the challenges of a changing climate.
During COP26, the U.S. Climate Alliance (USCA) released a Governors’ Climate Resilience Playbook, and CRO Director Anne Miller joined (virtually) a panel with top officials from seven other states to showcase leading actions featured in the playbook that bolster resilience across the nation. Highlights of Colorado efforts include the 2020 update of the Colorado Resiliency Framework under Gov. Jared Polis and the 2021 update of the interactive Colorado Resiliency Resource Center.
The Framework presents the state’s resiliency vision and priority strategies, as well as explores risks and vulnerabilities while the resource center provides a resiliency dashboard, case studies, toolkits, and calendar of events, including a recorded climate webinar series and Resiliency Summit on January 20, 2022, as well as a local government peer exchange platform to share information and lessons learned across Colorado.
Ms. Miller, along other key climate adaptation and resilience leaders, was invited by the White House Council on Environmental Quality to a convening on November 8, to provide input on the recently-released Federal Climate Adaptation Plans (www.sustainability.gov/adaptation), as well as next steps in the development of future plans to make our nation more climate-ready.
“The Colorado Resiliency Office is committed to bringing together state agencies, local governments and communities to creatively implement forward-thinking solutions that are sustainable and resilient to changing conditions and result in strong, equitable communities that can adapt to and thrive in the face of adversity,” said Miller. “It is rewarding to share our experience and contribute to the national and international dialogue on advancing solutions to the threats of climate change.”
CRO is part of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Division of Local Government, and helps communities understand the shocks and stresses they face, make connections across sectors to leverage resources and ideas, develop solutions that address multiple challenges, and build adaptability and preparedness into plans. CRO coordinates and collaborates across state agencies and with local, state, federal, private, and nongovernmental partners to ensure that Colorado communities are resilient to disruptions and adapt to changing environmental, social, and economic conditions. Learn more at www.coresiliency.com.
Anne Miller is Colorado Resiliency Office Director.