Collaborating for Climate Action

South Florida's experience with tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes, has taught local governments in Miami-Dade County a lot about working across jurisdictional boundaries to quickly recovery and bounce back from these events. It is through collective action in times of shocks and stresses that the Miami-Dade County community shines and best serves the community. We must channel that same spirit of collaboration and collective action to work on reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions to ensure a thriving, climate resilient Miami-Dade into the future.

While the bold actions proposed in this Climate Action Strategy will require concerted efforts across all sectors of the community, it is the responsibility of local governments to lead by example and enact legislation and policies that help facilitate swift action towards meeting these goals. Luckily, many of the 34 municipalities throughout the County have already embraced the challenge and are leading, setting targets and taking action. Leveraging the "Resilient35 in the 305" (Resilient35) network (Action 46, Resilient305 Strategy), the County will work on identifying opportunities to collaborate on projects and funding opportunities while also helping build capacity and knowledge sharing across the network to avoid duplicative efforts. The Resilient35 was a concept developed during the Resilient305 Strategy process to help facilitate knowledge sharing and network building among the 34 municipalities and the County – thus a Resilient305 – on resilience issues.

Garnering information gathered from the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact Climate Assessment Tool and municipal information sessions on Resilient305, the County’s Sea Level Rise Strategy and draft version of the Climate Action Strategy, the Office of Resilience will work collaboratively with municipalities on helping accelerate implementation of the bold actions outlined in this plan while also helping celebrating successes along the way. Uniting as a Resilient35 region helps accelerate the pace and impact of our collective efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Having a plan and being prepared also better positions the work for future State and Federal funding opportunities as both levels of government begin prioritization of climate related activities. Advancing action on climate is difficult both politically and financially, but just like with recovery from storms, collaboration will help make the journey a little less burdensome in our Miami-Dade County community.