City of Eugene Climate Vulnerability Pilot Review Process Report  >>>

 

Climate and Energy Planning in Eugene

In 2010 Eugene finalized a Community Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) that makes recommendations to reduce fossil fuel use and adapt to climate change. While the plan contains recommendations to adapt to climate change and rising fuel prices, the planning process did not have resources to adequately understand the adaptive capacity of community systems and services and prioritize adaptation actions. The process outlined below would continue where the Climate and Energy Plan left off – by carefully assessing the community vulnerability to these pressures.

Purpose of Vulnerability Assessment

Determine the local systems and services most vulnerable to changes in climate and increasing energy prices. This information will be used to aid in prioritizing funding to increase local resilience and adaptive capacity. A regional climate and energy vulnerability assessment will:

1. Identify the systems that are likely to be impacted by climate change and rising and volatile energy prices
2. Review and report projected local climate- and energy-related changes
3. Assess vulnerability to changes, and adaptive capacity of systems and services
4. Determine the systems and services most likely to be challenged under future scenarios.
5. Develop recommendations to help regional leaders prioritize funding and resources to increase community resilience.

This project is a pilot project that will develop and test a methodology in one or two of the systems/service areas. Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR) team will work with City of Eugene staff to identify the systems/service areas that will be analyzed in the pilot as well as the specific elements of the methodology. The team worked under the direction of Josh Bruce, Interim Director of OPDR and CPW graduate students, Nick Meltzer, Jack Heide and Casey Hagerman.