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Join City Limits for the 2022 Waterfront Conference. This day-long event features speeches and panels by experts from resiliency, housing and policy to address the climate crisis.
Adi Talwar
View of Edgewater Park, Bronx’s Northern shoreline
Nearly 10 years after Superstorm Sandy pummeled New York and New Jersey’s coastlines, causing an estimated $19 billion in damages and economic losses, the city’s waterfront remains especially vulnerable to storm surges.
This threat will only increase as extreme weather events become more intense and more frequent, and as sea levels continue to rise, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which released its most recent and dire report in February highlighting the need for immediate global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resiliency.
“With increasing global warming, losses and damages increase and become increasingly difficult to avoid, while strongly concentrated among the poorest vulnerable populations,” the authors wrote.
This and other urgent matters will be the center of attention 2022 Waterfront Conference on Mai 24A day-long conference featuring speeches and panels by experts from resiliency, housing and policy to address approaches that deal with the climate crisis. Panelists include representatives from all levels of government, as well as those who specialize in hyperlocal solutions. The conference—which is is organized by the Waterfront Alliance, and of which City Limits is a sponsor—will be held in-person 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage at 36 Battery Place in Lower Manhattan.
It will feature Dr. Christian Braneon from NASA and Columbia University Earth Institute, who will discuss the impacts of climate change on human health, including Heat waves Floodingdisproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including communities with color. Braneon recently Released resultsA study he co-authored involved data collection on heat islands in Manhattan, The Bronx, and examination of how they were used. They intersectWith areas populated mainly with communities of color or low-income residents
Other highlights include a talk about the challenges in the labor marketplace related to offshore wind, a panel discussion on grief and climate anxiety, and a discussion regarding climate resilience in public. Housing. City Limits will also moderate a panel on youth climate activists and the immense pressure they’re under to push adults to enact measures that afford them a livable planet in the future.
These are big stakes: New York City could see its sea levels rise six feet by 2100 according to some models.
New York legislators took steps to address the climate crisis at both the local and state levels. Last month, the state’s Public Service Commission approved two major renewable energy projects that combined are expected to reduce New York’s reliance on fossil fuels by half. The Climate Action Council is currently holding public hearings related to the implementation of the state’s aggressive climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Council is also considering measures to address climate and resilience at the local level. This bill would create a simplified Department of Sustainability and Climate Change to cut down on red tape as the city prepares for the next superstorm. Last summer, the city’s Planning Commission Released its 10-year Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, which presented a nearly 300-page roadmap to improve access to and resiliency of the city’s 520 miles of waterfront. The report highlighted the need for city officials make land-use decisions with climate risk and resilience in mind. They should also complete any projects still pending following Superstorm Sandy.
You can purchase tickets to the Waterfront Conference or read more about it. Visit the website here.