California Announces $9.4 Million in Funding to Combat Regional Climate Impacts
SACRAMENTO – The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) announced today the first round of funding for the Regional Resilience Grant, which will fund planning and implementation projects that enhance climate change resilience on a regional scale. The Governor’s Climate Budget of 2021 made $25 million available for this grant. OPR has $9.4 million to award in this grant’s first round of funding.
As Californians face mounting climate change impacts that vary across the state, this grant will fund partnerships pursuing regional resilience projects. A broad range of projects are eligible for the grant, enabling partnerships to propose projects that best address their regions’ unique climate resilience needs and most significant climate change risks, including wildfires, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, increasing temperatures, or extreme heat events.
“Given the magnitude of climate change impacts California already is beginning to experience, OPR is thrilled to launch the Regional Resilience Grant to build capacity for climate action at a regional level,” said Sam Assefa, Director of OPR. “The aim of this investment is to bring together previously independent partners to accelerate the delivery of regional climate solutions that address extreme heat, sea level rise, wildfire, and other climate hazards impacting every community in our state.”
Compared to local or city-based climate resilience projects, regional projects typically serve larger areas. The regional focus of the grant comes in response to climate change risks which impact entire regions rather than any one jurisdiction. A regional approach allows grantees to build capacity at a regional level and create solutions to regionally experienced impacts.
The grant is designed to foster long-lasting, community-based partnerships that can continue leading their regions’ work for climate resilience for decades to come. The grant will fund regional partnerships across the state that involve two or more jurisdictions and consist of public entities, California Native American tribes, community-based organizations, and academic institutions. To address the fact that under-resourced populations are at greatest risk of the climate impacts projected to accelerate statewide, grant requirements will ensure each partnership is prepared to serve the region’s communities most vulnerable to climate change. In addition, OPR’s goal is that at least 51% of Regional Resilience Grant funds support projects that directly benefit disadvantaged communities and at least 10% support California Native American tribes.
The Regional Resilience Grant, a key component of the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program (ICARP), is distinct from other ICARP grants in its regional focus. OPR recently announced awards of another ICARP grant, the Adaptation Planning Grant, to individual local governments, community-based organizations, and tribes to support their work assessing and minimizing local hazards. Read more about the Regional Resilience Grant in the Regional Resilience Grant Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).
