Climate adaptation is about developing strategies to help human and natural systems become more resilient to the effects of climate change. Even if we drastically reduced or halted greenhouse gas emissions immediately, the climate has already changed and will continue to change. We must help Minnesota adapt to the changes.
Assisting communities – Ongoing opportunities
Community planning grants for stormwater, wastewater, and community resilience
The MPCA offers grants for climate adaptation planning projects. Communities can use the funds to assess climate change vulnerabilities and plan for resilience in three areas:
- Improving stormwater resilience and reducing localized flood risk
- Improving the resilience of wastewater systems
- Adapting community services, ordinances, and public spaces
Assisting communities – Model plans and information resources from past grants
In recent years, the MPCA has provided grants to Minnesota communities to adapt and increase their resilience to Minnesota’s changing climate. These grant projects not only help specific local areas but also provide models of what can be done with planning and resilience across Minnesota:
- Climate adaptation plans for the cities of Albert Lea, Burnsville, Faribault, and Maplewood
- Water Quality and Conservation Community Engagement Toolkit
- Saint Paul Climate Action & Resilience Plan
- Climate-vulnerable populations and strategies to reduce risk
- Resilient adaptation of sustainable buildings
- South Central Minnesota Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment & Adaptation Plan
- Climate Adaptation Framework Menu of Climate Adaptation Strategies
- Morris Model Resilience Plan
MPCA teamed up with the Georgetown Climate Center to explore steps that Minnesota state agencies and the Minnesota Legislature can take to enable more resilience at the local level, and some steps municipalities can take to increase resilience of buildings.
MPCA also worked with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and other state agencies to incorporate climate adaptation priorities in the state hazard mitigation plan, which can help inform county and local hazard mitigation planning:
More information and resources
- Minnesota GreenStep Cities - A voluntary program offering best practices to increase your city's sustainability and resilience.
- Minnesota Sustainability Index – Find out which local governments have analyses, goals, and/or plans related to climate, energy, and equity with links to the webpages and documents
- Minnesota GreenCorps - Places AmeriCorps members with host organizations to address environmental needs, including building climate resilience
- National Adaptation Forum – Watch recordings, view session descriptions, speaker information, presentations, and committee information from the Virtual and In-person Forums which are provided by this professional development organization that supports a community of practice around climate adaptation