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Michael ConnorDeputy Secretary
FY 14-15: Agency Priority Goal
Climate Change Adaptation
Priority Goal
Goal Overview
Problem or opportunity being addressed
The Department has established policy emphasizing the importance of considering and analyzing potential climate change impacts when undertaking long-range planning exercises. Such plans must evaluate risks to and vulnerabilities in bureau operations and missions, and outline actions to manage these in the short- and long-term. The Department continues to develop, implement and update comprehensive plans to integrate consideration of climate change science and response strategies into operations to help make the nation’s communities, watersheds, and natural resources more resilient, and safeguard our cultural heritage.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
The Secretary of the Interior has identified the effects of climate change as a major challenge affecting missions across the Department, just as the President has identified in his Climate Change Action Plan Policy and Executive Order 13514 (October 5, 2009) and on “Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change” (November 1, 2013). The Department’s Climate Change Adaptation Policy (523 DM 1) provides a set of principles and guidance to bureaus and offices for addressing climate change impacts on the Department’s mission, programs, operations and personnel. The policy also establishes roles and responsibilities for carrying out climate change adaptation principles.
Key barriers and challenges
Understanding, communicating, and responding to the diversity of impacts associated with climate change across the various landscapes of the United States is an ambitious undertaking. Identifying similar terminology and means of measurement, engaging in collaborative communications with partners both within and outside DOI, obtaining adequate scientific understanding, and integrating various datasets and information sources are just some aspects of this undertaking that are already underway, and each of these activities is challenging.
Stakeholder Engagement
Climate Science Centers and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are engaging Interior and other Federal agencies, local and State partners, and the public to craft practical, landscape-level strategies for managing climate-change impacts within the eight regions. The Department is building the scientific and organizational infrastructure to work with partners in the development of adaptation tools and the coordination of climate-change responses at the landscape level. We are partnering to develop state-of-the-art strategies to translate science into adaptive management and to develop robust ecological-forecasting models.
Strategies
Bureaus across the Department are in the process of implementing the five climate change adaptation strategies that were developed and installed into the Department’s Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP) in accordance with direction from the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Department’s policy on climate change adaptation.For the purposes of this Priority Goal, the bureaus are being asked to identify a significant representative activity they are implementing for each of the five climate change adaptation strategies by which they will assess their progress against four levels of accomplishment.These levels of accomplishment will be scored, the summation of which will be used to represent the level to which the Department is implementing these strategies.
Progress Update
Goal Achieved -- 487 points out of a planned 200 points scored.
The Department created a scorecard based on the strategies to achieve the climate change goal of the Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP) to demonstrate progress in implementing the President’s Action Plan for Climate Change. The Department’s bureaus identified representative actions that highlight significant achievement in demonstrating progress toward implementing change within the management of its programs to accommodate anticipated impacts of climate change. The scorecard awarded points for progressing through four stages of either developing and issuing a policy or process, or conducting an activity that involves multiple deliverables, individuals, projects, etc.
Bureau actions to implement the climate change goal strategies progressed toward their intended achievements more quickly than the Department had envisioned when the conceptual design for the performance indicator for this Priority Goal was first developed. Bureaus attained sufficient progress on the actions to achieve the goal target of “maturing” (200 of 660 possible points) by the end of year one instead of the originally estimated two years. The Department achieved the “advanced” level of engagement (at least 400 points) in the 3rd quarter of FY 2015. This Priority Goal will be continued in FY 2016-2017, with the next phase of climate change adaptation initiatives being tracked.
Significance of the Accomplishment (through the Priority Goal) especially in relation to past experience and benefit to the public
The Department of the Interior:
- Made significant progress integrating climate change into internal program planning, action plans, science plans, etc.
- Established new science committees, climate change coordination teams, etc.; developed & distributed new adaptation policies, developed and deployed training
- Began development of protocols to address health & safety challenges
- Integrated climate change guidance into facilities criteria; continued work on reducing footprint and energy usage
- Updated external policies and programs to insert adaptation and capacity planning into grant criteria, technical assistance, program planning, etc.
Most importantly: The goal brought needed visibility to employees, partners, constituents, and others regarding the importance of addressing climate change to ensure that DOI can continue to effectively meet its mission responsibilities for the resources it protects and manages for the American public.
Next Steps
No Data Available
Contributing Programs & Other Factors
Contributing Programs within the agency
Climate change related activities across the Department are led by the Energy and Climate Change Task Force, co-chaired by the Deputy Secretary and Counselor to the Secretary with delegated day-to-day responsibility provided to a Climate Change Working Group, co-chaired by senior officials from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Office of the Deputy Secretary.
The Department has an organizational structure to facilitate the implementation of its integrated agency-wide climate change adaptation strategy. Responsibility and accountability for the effort is centralized in the Secretary’s office through the Energy and Climate Change Task Force, supported by the Climate Change Working group, with regional Climate Science Centers and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives providing feedback to the Working Group and the Task Force.
Contributing programs or partners outside the agency
The goal will also advance the recommendations and efforts of the Climate Change Preparedness and Resilience Council, co-chaired by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Homeland Security Advisor to the President, which was formed to ensure that federal agency policies and programs better prepare the U.S. to respond to the impacts of climate change. In response to the policies developed through the Council on Environmental Quality, the Department has integrated its climate change adaptation strategies within its Sustainability Plan. The Department also works closely with local, state and tribal governments and non-governmental partners through the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Climate Science Centers and other regional partnership initiatives.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objective:
Improve land and water health by managing wetlands, uplands, and riparian areas
Statement:
Improve land and water health by managing the wetlands, uplands, and riparian areas that comprise our national parks, wildlife refuges, and BLM lands.
Description:
Protecting America’s landscapes and natural resources is among the Department’s high priority conservation goals. The Department manages over 530 million acres of public lands, together with associated waterways and plant and animal species. In addition, the Department provides grant funding to States and Tribes for mitigating the adverse environmental effects of past mining on private lands. Land in desired condition is valued for providing ecosystem services, recreational and scenic merits, and vast open spaces, which contribute to public enjoyment and health. Maintaining or improving the condition of stream and shoreline miles benefits fish populations, enhances wildlife habitat, and contributes to a balanced ecology. The Nation’s forests, mountains, wetlands, grasslands, and deserts host biological diversity that is critical to overall ecosystem health, and species survival and well-being. Protecting the thousands of native plant and animal species, including those with special status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), preserves the rich natural legacy of this Nation both today and for future generations.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: Climate change adaptation. By September 30, 2015, the Department of the Interior will demonstrate maturing implementation of climate change adaptation as scored when carrying out strategies in its Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan.
Description: Problem or opportunity being addressed The Department has established policy emphasizing the importance of considering and analyzing potential climate change impacts when undertaking long-range planning exercises. Such plans must evaluate risks to and vulnerabilities in bureau operations and missions, and outline actions to manage these in the short- and long-term. The Department continues to develop, implement and update comprehensive plans to integrate consideration of climate change science and response strategies into operations to help make the nation’s communities, watersheds, and natural resources more resilient, and safeguard our cultural heritage. Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives The Secretary of the Interior has identified the effects of climate change as a major challenge affecting missions across the Department, just as the President has identified in his Climate Change Action Plan Policy and Executive Order 13514 (October 5, 2009) and on “Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change” (November 1, 2013). The Department’s Climate Change Adaptation Policy (523 DM 1) provides a set of principles and guidance to bureaus and offices for addressing climate change impacts on the Department’s mission, programs, operations and personnel. The policy also establishes roles and responsibilities for carrying out climate change adaptation principles. Key barriers and challenges Understanding, communicating, and responding to the diversity of impacts associated with climate change across the various landscapes of the United States is an ambitious undertaking. Identifying similar terminology and means of measurement, engaging in collaborative communications with partners both within and outside DOI, obtaining adequate scientific understanding, and integrating various datasets and information sources are just some aspects of this undertaking that are already underway, and each of these activities is challenging. Stakeholder Engagement Climate Science Centers and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are engaging Interior and other Federal agencies, local and State partners, and the public to craft practical, landscape-level strategies for managing climate-change impacts within the eight regions. The Department is building the scientific and organizational infrastructure to work with partners in the development of adaptation tools and the coordination of climate-change responses at the landscape level. We are partnering to develop state-of-the-art strategies to translate science into adaptive management and to develop robust ecological-forecasting models.
