Tracking for Impact: Development of Climate Resilience Metrics for Minnesota

On Friday, September 16, Governor Tim Walz announced the release of the new Minnesota Climate Action Framework which sets a vision for how Minnesota will address and prepare for climate change. The Framework identifies immediate, near-term actions to help achieve the long-term goal of a carbon-neutral, resilient, and equitable future. 

In partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the MCAP team is working to develop climate resilience metrics to help monitor and assess the success of priority actions outlined in the Resilient Communities section of the Framework. Some of the actions outlined in this section include

• Expanding green infrastructure and stormwater management to control flooding, restore lost habitat, and improve water quality
• Assessing vulnerabilities at critical facilities using climate projections to predict future hazards and make plans to ensure continuity of operations
• Combating urban heat islands by providing funding and technical assistance to help communities reduce their urban heat island effect

The "Tracking for Impact" project will develop, identify, and evaluate different resilience metrics that align with the Resilient Communities priority actions in order to support Minnesota is measuring successes and progress towards more resilient communities statewide. The project will include an audit of existing and currently used resilience metrics, including those from other states which can help to inform Minnesota's work, discussions with state agency leads to understand resilience metrics needs and existing data availability, an assessment of processes and outcomes that would support implementation, and a series of workshops to present our initial research findings and collaboratively prioritize a set of resilience metrics in alignment with the Resilient Communities section of the Climate Action Framework. Results will be used to develop a set of priority climate resilience metrics for the state. 

This project began in late summer 2022 and will continue through June 2023. Check back for updates on project progress and next steps.