New York’s climate takeover plan must put communities first, experts say
Malgosia Madajewicz of the Columbia Climate Institute’s Center for Climate System Research shows a map of projected water levels for the 100-year flood in Rockaway, Queens.
In 2022, New York State passed the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act.Among its many goals, the Act promises to invest in over a billion dollars Committing to flood protection statewide – including through voluntary private property acquisitions.
what should be done buy out What is the procedure like?This has been the subject of at least one discussion Manage retreat sessionshosted by Columbia Climate School this week. Managed withdrawal means keeping communities away from high-risk areas, and buyouts are one of the main tools to achieve this.
Designing a fair acquisition plan is More complex There is more to it than it seems. There are many questions to be addressed, such as: who has the right to acquire? Who needs them most? Have a safe and affordable destination? What will happen to those left behind? What happens to the bought-out land?
In a Tuesday workshop led by Cornell University’s Linda Shi, panelists and participants shared their experiences and advice with David Burgy of the New York State Office of Resilient Housing and Communities, who is currently planning under the Environmental Bond Act The state’s buyout strategy.
A recurring theme is that acquisitions need to be people-centred, community-led, and tailored to different communities. Participants emphasized the need to listen to feedback from community members, build trust, and leverage existing community networks to foster dialogue and awareness.
Marco Tedesco of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at the Climate School spoke at the conference about a new index he and his colleagues have created. Called the Climate Displacement and Social Vulnerability Index, it combines variables such as risk of multiple hazards, including floods, hurricanes and heat waves, with social and economic data. Tedesco said the index could help identify communities most in need of assistance and help ensure that when people relocate away from flood hazards, they don’t move to areas with other hazards, such as dangerously high temperatures .
In different sessions, Margosia Madjevic Columbia Climate School’s Center for Climate System Research Provides an illuminating case study of the effectiveness of community engagement in motivating and helping coastal residents adapt to flooding.
Madajewicz and her colleagues work on the flood-prone part of Queens’ Rockaway Peninsula, which was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Despite previous outreach efforts, Rockaway residents have largely failed to take action to protect themselves from future flooding. At the start of the study, Madjevic found that many residents were unaware of their flood risk and believed their only options were to build on or relocate. Most people can’t afford to elevate their home and don’t want to move, so they drop out of the conversation altogether.
Working with 10 local community organizations, Madajewicz and her colleagues designed a program to raise awareness of flood risk in specific communities. They produced pictures showing how high water levels would reach at familiar local landmarks, and calculated the estimated cost of non-adaptation (which could cost as much as $1.7 million over the next 30 years at one site), as well as using a range of adaptation measures.
“They’ve heard a lot about the cost of building a house, but they haven’t really understood or thought about the benefits before,” Madjevic said.
Over the course of the year-long study, “what was really evident was a shift in people’s perceptions of who was responsible for taking adaptation actions,” Madjevic said. “So people go from a lack of agency… to an idea that residents do need to take on responsibility for adapting. What empowers people in particular is the idea of a range of choices, different options for different houses.”
This individual empowerment drives community organizers to discuss making information available to others and to take collective action. They even started talking about relocation, “which wasn’t even on the agenda in the beginning,” Madjevic said. She thinks the process could be expanded to other communities as well.
Paul Gallais of the Climate School’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development shared a photo of community leaders meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers.
paul gallet of Center for Sustainable Urban Design Directing the Resilient Coastal Communities Project – partnership Collaboration between Columbia and the Environmental Justice Coalition of New York City. Calais talked about how the project helps communities create public plans for flood risk.
His advice, after interviewing community organizers: “Don’t bring the full plan into the community and expect them to throw roses and hosannas.” Instead, he said, planners need to provide opportunities for communities to have real dialogue and exchange, And assume a certain degree of responsibility.
“If we don’t effectively include communities in our planning, historic inequalities—a history of redlining and limited access to effective health care, livelihoods, caused by education and intergenerational wealth transferability.” .
Calais emphasized that community engagement in resilience planning requires a significant investment of residents’ time; therefore, he called on the government to develop programs to fund community capacity and engagement.
“There can be no effective coastal resilience without community empowerment,” he explained.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, nearly all residents who received buyouts moved to areas with less flooding, according to data shared by Peter Mattingly of the New York State Office of Resilient Housing and Communities.
David Burgy said his team is conducting statewide listening tours and encourages people to attend and share their thoughts and concerns about EBO takeovers.
The Environmental Bonds Act is not the first time New Yorkers have discussed climate migration. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 sparked interest and debate on the topic, with many homeowners across the country accepting buyouts to avoid repeated damage from hurricanes, coastal flooding and wildfires.
As climate change exacerbates the speed and severity of many natural disasters, we can also expect it to spark discussions about managed retreats. This week’s meeting hopes to shape future conversations and implementations to ensure they are fair, informed and community-led.
