Resilient Rhody: State of Resilience Report 2024
In 2024, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) published its State of Resilience Report. This report intends to serve as a “launching point” for the Resilient Rhody 2025 Statewide Coastal Resilience Plan by assessing Rhode Island’s progress towards climate resilience, including updates on climate data and initiatives established by the 2018 Resilient Rhody strategy.
In an introductory letter, Rhode Island Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) Kimberly Korioth explains the importance of landscape features (e.g, beaches, bluffs, and forests) in supporting Rhode Island’s economy. Korioth explains that climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, increased storms, and changing precipitation have worsened flooding for Rhode Island communities. Beyond flooding, the report also acknowledged warming air and water temperatures and changing biodiversity as other manifestations of climate change affecting Rhode Island.
Resilient Rhody 2018 identified 61 Climate Resilience Actions and the concrete progress made to advance each action’s goal. Resilient Rhody2024 discloses that since then, the RI Coastal Resources Management Program has been revised; the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has processed 85 applications for structural shoreline protection, 71 for beach restoration activities, and 9 for wetland restoration; and the CRMC has addressed 637 coastal zone violations.
The report details “Standards for Climate Resilience” which encompass the planning and design, regulatory and permitting, and grant and funding standards Rhode Island has implemented at both the state and local levels. Organized by “standard” and “impact,” this section outlines ongoing projects and their planned impacts. Following these standards, the report describes the statewide climate resilience initiatives in Rhode Island. The initiatives span regional and statewide coordination, data and mapping, education and workforce development, state and local planning, project scoping, state funding grant opportunities, federal funding, and incentive programs from Rhode Island communities. The Resilience EC4 subgroup, an example of a statewide coordination initiative, facilitates coordination across various state agencies on resilience efforts. The subgroup, which consists of representatives from 12 state agencies, works to foster interagency collaboration and alignment and to prepare content for Rhode Island’s resilience reports.
Overall, the report functions to “provide a strong foundation for agency staff, statewide nonprofit and university partners, private sector entities, government leaders, and community members to not only fully utilize resilience resources available, but also to evaluate statewide gaps and needed next steps.”
This 2024 report is to be followed by the Resilient Rhody 2025 Statewide Coastal Resilience Plan, which will serve as a comprehensive assessment of the climate risks facing Rhode Island with a particular focus on sea-level rise hazards.
Publication Date: 2024
Related Organizations:
- Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
Resource Category:
Resource Types:
- Progress report
States Affected:
