OurCounty Annual Report Discussion Draft is Open for Public Comment
The Chief Sustainability Office invites your feedback on the second OurCounty Annual Report—which summarizes how the County is implementing the nation’s most ambitious regional sustainability plan. Beginning this year, the CSO is combining its annual reporting into one comprehensive Annual Report which describes both how we’re doing and what parts of the plan we’ll prioritize for the upcoming year. You can review the report on our website and submit your comments to [email protected] from now until August 31, 2021. You can also sign up for a brief virtual office hours to ask questions or share comments with the CSO. Following the public comment period, the CSO will revise the document and release the final version in October. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Mind the Protection Gap
As climate disasters such as wildfires, floods, and extreme heat increase in frequency and severity, California faces a growing protection gap – the gap in insurance coverage between insured and uninsured losses. CSO’s Kristen Torres Pawling is a member of the Insurance Commissioner’s Climate Working Group, which is charged with exploring the connections between climate change, nature-based approaches, and insurance, especially as they relate to protecting our most vulnerable communities. This month, the Climate Insurance Working Group released its first-ever recommendations in a groundbreaking report titled “Protecting Communities, Preserving Nature, and Building Resiliency; How First-of-Its-Kind Climate Insurance Will Help Combat the Costs of Wildfires, Extreme Heat, and Floods.” Learn more about the report here!
LA County Climate Vulnerability Assessment
On Thursday, July 1, CSO hosted an online workshop to share recent findings from the countywide Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA). At the workshop, we shared information about how climate change will impact communities and infrastructure, and we previewed our CVA mapping tool. To view the workshop materials, including the workshop slides and video recording in English and Spanish, please visit our website. Stay tuned for the final report, which is anticipated to be completed by the end of summer 2021.
CSO Speaks Up
On July 7, Rita Kampalath testified at the California State Senate Government and Finance Committee on AB 1276, which would phase out the use of single use plastic food accessories, and the next day on July 8, she testified at the Los Angeles Water Board Regional MS4 Permit Board Hearing to advocate for strategies that will support clean stormwater in our region. On July 12, Kristen Torres Pawling provided testimony about climate disaster risks and inequity, and the need to invest in equitable, people-centered climate resilience strategies, at the California Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management – check out her remarks at around 1:12 of the recording!
