VA releases updated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan

On Thursday, June 20, 2024, VA joined more than 20 federal agencies to release its updated 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan and expand the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to ensure federal operations are increasingly resilient to climate change impacts. The updated adaptation plans advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Climate Resilience Framework, which helps to align climate resilience investments across the public and private sector through common principles and opportunities for action to build a climate resilient nation.

Background

At the beginning of his Administration, President Biden tasked federal agencies with leading whole-of-government efforts to address climate change through Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Following the magnitude of challenges posed by the climate crisis underscored last year when the nation endured a record 28 individual, billion-dollar, extreme weather and climate disasters that caused more than $90 billion in aggregate damage, VA continues to be a leader and partner in adaptation and resilience.

VA released its initial Climate Adaptation Plan in 2021 and progress reports outlining advancements toward achieving their adaptation goals in 2022. In coordination with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget, agencies have now updated their Climate Adaptation Plans for 2024 to 2027 to better integrate climate risk across their mission, operations and asset management, including:

• Combining historical data and projections to assess exposure of assets to climate-related hazards, including extreme heat and precipitation, sea level rise, flooding and wildfire;
• Expanding the operational focus on managing climate risk to facilities and supply chains to include federal employees and federal lands and waters;
• Broadening the mission focus to describe mainstreaming adaptation into agency policies, programs, planning, budget formulation and external funding;
• Linking climate adaptation actions with other Biden-Harris Administration priorities, including advancing environmental justice and the President’s Justice40 Initiative, strengthening engagement with Tribal Nations, supporting the America the Beautiful initiative, scaling up nature-based solutions, and addressing the causes of climate change through climate mitigation; and
• Adopting common progress indicators across agencies to assess the progress of agency climate adaptation efforts.

What impact will climate change have on Veterans?

Veterans will face direct and indirect health impacts of extreme heat, wildfires and other climate hazards, with effects that could be short- or long-term. Climate change may impact Veterans’ access to public transportation, safe roads and other resources that can influence health outcomes. VA continues to study potential impact to Veterans. Effects on community infrastructure often cause greater harm within vulnerable populations and communities with environmental justice concerns.

What is VA doing about climate change?

VA’s 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan lays out several commitments designed to better assess, plan for and mitigate the effects of climate change. Enhancing climate resilience across VA is a critical endeavor to protect the VA mission to serve Veterans, including reaching the high standard of avoiding interruption of any duration for in-patient facilities. Beyond maintaining the Department’s ability to serve its mission, VA must be prepared to serve its “Fourth Mission” to improve the country’s response in times of emergency, requiring not just continued services, but heightened demands to provide health care services to the general public during potential extreme weather events. VA adaptation efforts include risk assessments for facilities, updating facility standards, enhancing storage of emergency supplies, and collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on public health data pertaining to climate change.

All plans from each of the 20+ agencies and more information are available at the Sustainability website, or www.sustainability.gov/adaptation. To see VA’s updated plan, and all other agency plans, click the “Progress” button on the top right, and then “By Agency” from the menu.