Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact

The 3rd Annual Southeast Florida Climate Leadership Summit, was held December 8 - 9 in Key Largo. The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact is a joint commitment of Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties to partner in mitigating the causes and adapting to the consequences of climate change.

At this year’s Summit, the draft Regional Climate Action Plan was unveiled.  Please visit this link to review the document and its appendices Regional Climate Action Plan.  Please note that comments on the plan will be accepted until Friday March 16, 2012.

  You may submit comments to:  comments@SoutheastFloridaClimateCompact.org.

The Regional GHG Emissions Inventory report and Regional Compact Sea Level Rise Projections white paper are also available on the Compact website, and are useful resources.

For reference, the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact represents a joint commitment of Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe Counties to partner in mitigating the causes and adapting to the consequences of climate change. The Compact was formalized following the 2009 Southeast Florida Climate Leadership Summit, when elected officials came together to discuss challenges and strategies for responding to the impacts of climate change. The Compact outlines a collaborative effort to participate in a Regional Climate Team toward the development of a Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Action Plan.

The Compact also commits the Counties to work on federal and state climate policies and joint advocacy in Tallahassee and Washington, DC on climate policies related to the shared challenges of climate change.  

NRPMD Director, Dr. Jennifer Jurado, and staffer, Patti Webster, represent Broward County on the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact Steering Committee, charged with implementing the Compact.

Baseline for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Southeast Florida

A regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory was developed to establish the baseline level of emissions from targeted sources and to establish reductions goals. The technical work group included representatives from each Compact County and support of the Climate Leadership Initiative (CLI). Staff collected greenhouse gas emission inventory data from selected sources for all four counties for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Multiple years were collected to discern and smooth economic downturn-related reductions in emissions. Targeted sources included electrical, natural gas, fuel sales and transportation-related emissions.  Data collection was coordinated and analyzed through CLI to generate the inventory.

Unified Sea Level Rise Projection

At the October 23, 2009 SE FL Regional Climate Leadership Summit, the local diversity in sea level rise (SLR) projections was highlighted as a concern and a barrier to achieving regionally consistent adaptation policies and effective communications on risk assessments.

Through a series of facilitated discussions, a Work Group of local scientists and professionals knowledgeable on sea level rise science reviewed the existing regional projections and the current scientific literature related to SLR with particular emphasis on the impact of accelerating ice melt. The Work Group recommended that the SE FL region agree to utilize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) July 2009 Guidance Document until more definitive information on future SLR is available and a 2060 timeframe for planning purposes. It was also suggested that the group reconvene and consider new data and scientific evidence in three years. The projection uses Key West tidal data from 1913-1999 as the foundation of the calculation and references the year 2010 as the starting date of the projection. Two key planning horizons are highlighted: a 2030 projection of 3-7 inches and a 2060 projection of 9-24 inches. 

Inundation Mapping and Vulnerability Assessment of Areas at Risk by Sea Level Rise 

The need to develop a unified set of methodologies and criteria for creating sea level inundation maps for the SE FL region was also identified. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center (CSC) worked closely with Broward County and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to coordinate a two-day technical workshop in April 2010 to initiate this process.

In August, GIS professionals from the Compact Counties, academia and representatives from federal agencies reconvened to agree on aspects of performing vulnerability analysis. They reviewed the results of a pre-workshop online survey focused on determining potential resources at risk to sea level rise for the SE FL area. This survey provided a foundation for discussions at the workshop, covering parameters to assess for vulnerability, methods for determining resources at risk, disclaimer language and other related topics. At this and subsequent meetings, the work group refined parameters of interest and agreed to a set of regionally-consistent methods of assessing and illustrating vulnerability in SE FL.

Adaptation Action Area 

Inundation mapping and risk assessments revealed the need to focus adaptation improvements in areas of increased risk of inundation due to sea level rise, and the means for directing future funding to these targeted areas. The term Adaptation Action Area (AAA) was created to provide for special designation of these priority planning areas where coastal and tidal flooding placed public and private infrastructure at risk. The Compact Counties (Broward, Monroe, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties), adopted state and federal policies related to the creation of Adaptation Action Areas and jointly advocated for the definition of Adaptation Action Areas in Florida law.

On May 8, 2011, the Florida Legislature adopted the Community Planning Act, HB 720 that provides for a definition of Adaptation Action Areas. Subsequent to this state action, on May 13, 2011 members of Congress signed onto a letter supporting the term Adaptation Action Area and requesting funds to study, define and designate several Adaptation Action Areas. On July 6, 2011, the Compact Counties requested consideration by Congress of Adaptation Action Area funding through the Interior and Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

 "Adaptation action area" or "adaptation area" is an optional comprehensive plan designation for areas that experience coastal flooding and that are vulnerable to the related impacts of rising sea levels for the purpose of prioritizing funding for infrastructure needs and adaptation planning. Local governments that adopt an adaptation action area may consider policies within the coastal management element to improve resilience to coastal flooding.

Adaptation to sea level rise is the steps a community takes to become more resilient to the impacts of rising seas over a period of time. The three main strategies a community may use to adapt to sea level rise are: Protection, Accommodation, and Retreat.

Past Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summits

 View 2010 Summit Program 

View 2009 Summit Program and Resources