A RESILIENT FUTURE FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES

This report by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) provides 30 federal policy recommendations to enhance the climate resilience of U.S. coastal communities. Based on a series of 16 Congressional briefings featuring 42 experts, the document outlines strategies across six themes: community engagement, land use and development, cultural heritage, climate data, disaster preparedness, and financing. It emphasizes the need for policies based on future climate projections, the integration of climate justice, and the prioritization of nature-based solutions over traditional gray infrastructure.

• Federal policies and programs for coastal resilience must be designed based on future climate projections rather than historical data to avoid catastrophic property damage and infrastructure failure.
• Meaningful community engagement is essential, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and low-income communities, who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. The report recommends that federal funding support the training of local leaders to ensure programs are community-driven and sustainable.
• The federal government should prioritize nature-based solutions—such as wetlands, coral reefs, and dunes—over 'gray' infrastructure (concrete bulkheads and seawalls) because they provide essential protection and carbon sequestration co-benefits.
• Current Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) tools used by agencies like FEMA and HUD often disadvantage nature-based solutions and reinforce structural inequality by favoring high-value properties over low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods.
• There is a critical need for the federal government to invest in localized climate data and to co-produce this knowledge with tribes, acknowledging tribal sovereignty and integrating traditional ecological knowledge with Western science.
• The report recommends a shift in disaster policy toward pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) and the creation of national policies to manage the inevitable movement of people (climate migration) resulting from coastal hazards.
• Cultural heritage is often overlooked in climate adaptation; the report suggests establishing a federal coordination office to manage research and policy regarding the impact of climate change on archaeological and cultural sites.
• To scale up resilience efforts, the report proposes the establishment of a national 'Green Bank' and the use of revolving loan funds to provide accessible capital for adaptation projects, especially in underserved communities.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). A RESILIENT FUTURE FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES. https://www.eesi.org/files/EESI-Coastal-Resilience-Report.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. A RESILIENT FUTURE FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/EESI-Coastal-Resilience-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=A RESILIENT FUTURE FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES |date=October 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/EESI-Coastal-Resilience-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020resilient, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{A RESILIENT FUTURE FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/EESI-Coastal-Resilience-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }