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Kresge effort highlighted as White House details progress on climate plan

Environment

The Kresge Foundation’s $10.7 million Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative is among $25 million in new public and private investments highlighted by the Obama administration today during a progress report on its Climate Action Plan announced in June 2013.

A task force of state, local and tribal leaders made recommendations in 2014 about how the federal government should respond to the needs of communities dealing with climate change, especially those that are disproportionately affected, such as low-income communities. Efforts stemming from those recommendations were highlighted in the progress report. A Kresge grant funded staffing for the task force.

Addressing a conference today hosted by the Center for American Progress and the National League of Cities, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shaun Donovan emphasized the need to address disproportionate effects of climate change felt by low-income communities, and the administration’s view that resilience projects can boost economic growth as well as provide environmental and social benefits.

“Responding to the macroeconomic challenge of climate change is not mutually exclusive with providing help to the families that need it most,” Donovan said.

Other investments highlighted in the administration’s fact sheet include projects to enlist AmeriCorps/VISTA members in climate-resilience work and nearly $12 million in funding to help tribes prepare for climate-change effects.

Kresge works to expand opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities. Its Environment Program helps communities build environmental, economic and social resilience in the face of climate change. The Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative focuses on improving the resilience of low-income, urban communities. The Environment Program team awarded planning grants of $100,000 each to 17 nonprofits in November 2014, and expects to award up to 15 implementation grants of up to $200,000 per organization per year for up to three years.

Read a primer on Kresge’s Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative.

Read an FAQ on the initiative.

Read the White House fact sheet on actions to build climate-change resilience.

Read the White House progress report.