To Build Climate Readiness Across the State, Sustainable Jersey Announced Funding to Hire Chief Resilience Officers in Six Cities through DEP’s Building a Climate Ready NJ Initiative

Chief Resilience Officers in Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Trenton will develop and implement strategies to address the impacts of climate change

Sustainable Jersey today announced funding to hire Chief Resilience Officers in Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Trenton. Faced with the detrimental impacts of climate hazards such as intensifying flooding and heat, municipalities need a point person in City Hall who can help assess the effects and implement climate adaptation strategies. As a central point of contact, the Chief Resilience Officer will help facilitate the exchange of information across departments and develop their city’s resilience plans, policies and programs.

Funded through the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) comprehensive Building a Climate Ready NJ initiative, Sustainable Jersey will work with six municipalities to hire a Chief Resilience Officer in a three-year position. The initiative includes support for the recruitment, hiring and training of the Chief Resilience Officers. Sustainable Jersey will also establish a Chief Resilience Officers network to foster resource sharing and collaboration between the cities.

The hiring of the Chief Resilience Officers in six cities will further advance New Jersey’s comprehensive strategy for addressing the worsening impacts of climate change. “The Urban Chief Resilience Officer program will enhance municipal capacity to plan for climate change, and we are proud to support these cities,” said Nick Angarone, New Jersey’s Chief Resilience Officer. “Understanding the full scope of your community’s climate vulnerabilities is fundamental to developing and implementing plans and projects that will effectively reduce those risks, both today and in the long-term.”

“Receiving the support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Paterson is a critical step towards bolstering our capacity to respond effectively to the challenges posed by climate change,” said Andre Sayegh, Mayor of the City of Paterson. “We will be better equipped to coordinate and execute a range of resilience actions, ensuring the successful completion of green infrastructure projects that are vital for flood mitigation and our overall community well-being.”

Sustainable Jersey Director Randall Solomon said, “We are looking forward to working with these six cities to build climate resilience in their communities. The goal is to provide each municipality with long-term capacity to address challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.”

The grant for the Building a Climate Ready NJ initiative is funded by the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, a one-time $575 million funding opportunity administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management.

Sustainable Jersey is also providing technical assistance for municipalities to complete or update a Climate Change-Related Hazard Vulnerability Assessment. Participants are selected through a competitive application process. The technical assistance to conduct the climate vulnerability assessment will apply the methodology outlined in the Guide to Local Climate Change Adaptation Planning: The Model Climate Change-Related Hazard Vulnerability Assessment for New Jersey Municipalities. The technical assistance program is provided through DEP’s Resilient NJ program with funding from the American Rescue Plan. For more information on this opportunity, municipalities should visit: https://bit.ly/ClimateReadyTA .