Last week, on the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Walsh announced a regional summit to better prepare Boston for the impacts of climate change. The announcement also marked the kickoff of an international design competition focused on climate preparedness, as well as an update of the City of Boston’s ongoing climate efforts.
“There is no issue more urgent than
climate action. When we work together, the steps we take do more than protect
us: they can bring us closer together, they can create good jobs, they can
improve our health, our public space, and our civic life,” said Mayor Walsh. “I
look forward to working closely with the MAPC, the Metro Mayor’s Coalition, and
the Commonwealth on this critical issue.”
The half-day summit, which will be
held at the University of Massachusetts Boston next spring, is a
first-of-its-kind convening on regional climate preparedness and will establish
a mechanism for coordination of regional, cross-government action going
forward.
“It is essential that communities
in the Boston metropolitan area work together on climate change,” said Richard
C. Rossi, Cambridge City Manager. “Climate change is creating new stresses on
our communities, and while we are individually doing a lot within our borders,
what is missing is a regional strategy.”
“The impacts of climate change do
not respect municipal boundaries,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of the
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). “It’s incredibly important that all
of the cities and towns in Greater Boston work together to address issues like
sea level rise, coastal flooding, and rising temperatures. Cooperation and planning
are the keys to success.”
The competition invites
multi-disciplinary teams to submit design solutions to sea-level rise for three
sites in the City that will help better prepare the site and the surrounding
community for climate change. The three sites are located in the North End,
Fort Point Channel, and Morrissey Boulevard. The competition will conclude in
the spring, with a first place prize of $20,000. It is funded through a grant
from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, and the Barr
Foundation. Details about the design competition can be found at www.bostonlivingwithwater.org.
These announcements build on the
City of Boston’s ongoing climate preparedness efforts. A year ago, the City released the
report, Climate Ready Boston:
Municipal Vulnerability to Climate Change, which was
a cross-departmental effort led by the Mayor’s Office of Environment, Energy,
and Open Space.
The report identified the City’s
vulnerabilities to climate change in order to help departments take action to
prepare. In the past year, the City has made significant progress on reducing
these vulnerabilities, especially in the areas of emergency response, extreme
heat preparedness, flood and stormwater management, capital planning, and
community engagement. Efforts include:
Backup power at emergency shelters: As a
result of $1.32 million in grant
funding from the Commonwealth, four emergency shelters will be
getting solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays to provide at least three days of backup
power during an emergency. In addition, the Office of Emergency Management
(OEM) and Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) are conducting an
Emergency Generator Study to outfit four BCYF Community Centers with emergency
generators.
Facility improvements to address
extreme heat: BCYF has purchased tents and water access (sprinklers) to help
handle extreme heat at outdoor programming sites during the summer. In
addition, the BCYF Paris Street Community Center capital project includes
installation of an emergency generator and air conditioning throughout the
building, allowing the facility to serve as a cooling center.
Increased food resilience: With
funding from the Kendall Foundation and the Urban Sustainability Directors
Network, the Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives has recently commissioned a
team to complete a city-wide food resilience study. The Department of
Neighborhood Development also continues its efforts to transform vacant lots
into urban agriculture.
Flooding and stormwater management:
A number of green infrastructure projects that help mitigate
flooding have recently been completed or are underway.
·
Boston Transportation Department completed construction of
Boston’s first green municipal parking lots.
·
The Public Works Department worked with the Charles River
Watershed Association and the Boston Groundwater Trust to repave an alley in
the South End with porous pavement.
·
The Parks Department is finalizing the 2015-2021
Open Space Plan, which incorporates climate preparedness.
Increased education and awareness: Greenovate
Boston, Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), and OEM have teamed up to
deliver concerted messaging during National Preparedness Month. This included
the launch of a new webpage with daily
tips, as well as a community preparedness event that attracted over 200
residents.
Better prepared buildings and
development:
·
The BRA has implemented a mandatory climate preparedness questionnaire as part of the Article
80 development review process. So far over 60 projects have completed this new
requirement.
·
The Mayor’s new Housing 2030 plan incorporates climate
preparedness goals and actions.
·
This fall, the City added a new partner to its property insurance
team. FM Global is an international, mutual-insurance firm with a focus on
loss-prevention engineering. FM Global will work with the City to identify and
prioritize solutions for risks to the City’s 33 largest buildings, and
contribute loss-prevention expertise to the City’s building design processes.
The risks of flooding and high winds, which will increase with climate change,
are priorities at FM Global. Through this partnership, the City gains research
and engineering expertise to help address these risks.
These efforts, along with future
actions to better prepare the community, will be part of the 2014 Climate Action
Plan Update, which will be released the second week of November for public
comment. Interested parties may view and comment on the draft strategies and
actions currently posted at Engage.GreenovateBoston.org.
