Local Ordinances for Climate Adaptation & Mitigation
Towns, cities, and counties have a variety of opportunities to safeguard people and infrastructure from the effects of a changing climate, and to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon energy and transportation systems.
To help inform climate and energy policy making at the municipal level, the Georgetown Climate Center has released "Local Ordinances for Climate Adaptation & Mitigation," a suite of analyses and resources for local governments. With support from the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, GCC researched and analyzed steps local governments could take to facilitate effective climate adaptation and mitigation actions in their communities.
“Local governments are essential players in implementing climate adaptation, clean transportation, and renewable energy solutions,” said Kate Zyla, Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center. “Local laws or ordinances are fundamental tools in any effort to accelerate emissions reductions and clean energy deployment, and to protect people and communities from floods and other climate driven hazards.”
GCC focused its research on six topics where local ordinances can be part of an effective response to issues currently facing municipal and county governments. The six issues GCC examined in this research are:
- Clean Energy Deployment: Strengthening community engagement practices to support wind, solar, and battery energy deployment.
- Data Centers: Limiting the community and environmental impacts of data centers.
- Floodplain Mapping: Updating flood risk maps and zoning regulations to discourage development in places at risk from increasingly frequent and severe flooding.
- Freeboard Standards: Improving freeboard standards so that buildings in flood-prone areas are elevated above the expected levels of current and future floods.
- Transit-Oriented Development: Enabling transit-oriented development (TOD) to reduce reliance on cars and improve access to clean, affordable transit options like subways.
- Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emissions Vehicle Deployment: Facilitating siting of convenient public charging for medium- and heavy-duty zero-emissions vehicles (MHDZEV), such as electric freight trucks.
For each topic, GCC provides a memo that includes examples of effective local ordinances and other best practices that have already been implemented in U.S. communities, and a separate memo exploring the potential for adopting or adapting those models in four Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states: Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and Maine.
Along with the series of memos, GCC published 11 examples of local flood ordinances that prioritize flood mapping and resilience in the Adaptation Clearinghouse, the Climate Center's online library of adaptation and resilience resources.
Use the left hand navigation bar to explore these topics.