Resources for the Future (RFF)
RFF's domestic adaptation program is focused on policy research, with the goal of developing effective federal, state, and local policy options aimed at adapting to the likely impacts of climate change.
Initial research, Phase I, focused on understanding the policy implications of climate impacts in 6 areas which corresponded to the IPCC scientific assessments: terrestrial ecosystems, marine ecosystems, fresh water resources, agriculture, human health and built infrastructure. Experts were commissioned to track the likely impacts climate change would have on the continental US over the next 50-100 years and the strategies that might be employed to cope with and reduce these impacts. These reports are available on the RFF adaptation publications site.
Subsequent research efforts are represented as Phase II - Reforming Institutions and Managing Extremes, covering a wide range of topics including the economics of adaptation policy, institutional reforms, legal frameworks, and federal governance. This collection of publications is also available on the RFF adaptation publications site.
The work, involving both natural and social scientists, will consider private and public decision making in the context of long-term uncertainty; the role of market-like mechanisms, including crop and flood insurance; the tensions between government entities in developing legislative, regulatory, and fiscal mandates; and ways in which compensation could be provided for those harmed by climate change.
has adaptation reports segmented into Phase I: Understanding the Impacts and Phase II: Reforming Institutions and Managing Extremes.
RFF is a non-profit organization conducting economic and social science research in order to inform policy makers on environmental, energy, natural resource, and environmental health issues. The organization is headquartered in Washington, DC and works on projects and issues worldwide. RFF works in focus areas of Energy and Climate, Regulating Risk, Transportation and Urban Land, The Natural World, and Human Health.
Phone: (202) 328-5000
Sectors:
Related Resources:
- Climate Change Impacts on Forestry
- Adapting to Extreme Events: Managing Fat Tails
- Climate Adaptation and Federal Megadisaster Policy: Lessons from Katrina
- Climate Adaptation Policy: The Role and Value of Information
- Adaptations to Sustain High-Quality Freshwater Supplies in Response to Climate Change
- A Legal Framework for Climate Adaptation Assessment
- Better-Defined Rights and Responsibilities in Marine Adaptation Policy
- Emerging Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Resources: A Perspective on Transformed Watersheds
- An Adaptation Portfolio for the United States Coastal and Marine Environment
- Adapting to Climate Change: The Public Policy Response - Public Infrastructure
- Pre-Positioning Policy as a Public Adaptation to Climate Change
- Adaptation to Climate Change: Revisiting Infrastructure Norms
- Adapting to Climate Change: Public Health
- Ecosystem Services and Climate Adaptation
- Encouraging Adaptation to Climate Change: Long-Term Flood Insurance
- Climate Dependencies and Risk Management: Microcorrelations and Tail Dependence
- Promoting Innovative Climate Adaptation through Federalism
- Adaptation for Agriculture and the Food System to Climate Change: Policy Issues
- Agriculture and the Food System: Adaptation to Climate Change
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Adaptation
- Adaptation to Climate Change in Public Lands Management
- Climate Adaptation and Watershed Transboundary Governance Institutions
- Transfer of Development Rights in U.S. Communities: Evaluating Program Design, Implementation, and Outcomes
