Supporters of environmental well-being and climate resilience are awakening and mobilizing - cities, states, business, academia, community-based organizations, and the military. They understand the imminent and long-term risks of climate deterioration and they are creating new structures beyond the top-down government policy efforts of the past.
This highly practical book provides a clear insight into these collaborative solutions by real organizations in real time. It demonstrates how people from disparate fields and stakeholders cooperate to address climate issues at ground level and reveals how this can be undertaken effectively. Through case studies of key organizations such as the NYC Sustainability Office, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, IBM, and West Point Military Academy, readers will understand each party's role in a cooperative enterprise and the means by which they support climate resiliency, their institutional goals, and their communities.
Of particular value, the book illustrates the co-benefits of multi-party resilience planning: faster approval times; reduced litigation; ability to monetize benefits such as positive health outcomes; the economic benefits of cooperation (for example, capacity building through financing climate planning and resilience across public, private, and other sources of funding); and developing a shared perspective. The book will be of great interest to business managers, policymakers, and community leaders involved in combating climate change, and researchers and students of business, public affairs, policy, environment, climate, and urban studies.
About the Author: Ann Goodman, PhD, is Faculty Affiliate in the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), Environmental Sciences Initiative, with 30 years of international leadership at the intersection of business, finance, sustainability, climate, risk, resilience, as for- and nonprofit executive, entrepreneur, communicator, author, and educator.
Nilda Mesa is Visiting Lecturer at the Paris School of International Affairs, SciencesPo, and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. She serves on the Board of Directors of United Therapeutics. Mesa is the former director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Sustainability, and served in senior environmental roles at the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Pentagon, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.