Responding to Climate Change & Increasing Community Resilience

Climate change continues to impact the health and well-being of Ramsey County residents, with severity in racially and ethnically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Ramsey County is committed to leading in the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, elevating environmental justice and fighting against the disparate impacts, particularly in Black/African American, American Indian and other underrepresented communities across the county.

Overview

Why this is a priority

We continue to see changes to our local climate including milder winters, hotter summers, more extreme weather events and longer allergy seasons. These changes contribute to:

Increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
The spread of infectious and vector borne disease.
Reduced access to healthy foods and basic needs.
Higher risks of heat related illness.
Greater stress on mental health conditions.
Larger potential for death and injury during extreme weather events.

Due to the compounding effects of racism and oppression, racially and ethnically diverse communities of color in Ramsey County face more severe and frequent negative impacts on health, safety and well-being in relation to the effects of climate change.

Previous work

Building off the work of the Energy Governance Team, the Strategic Energy Plan, and Ramsey County’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Ramsey County will expand its work to develop a comprehensive approach that combats climate change. The pandemic in the last two years have been an ongoing case study of community resilience, but the county must be intentional, strategic, accountable, and focused in pursuing equitable, measurable and impactful outcomes through climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Environmental justice and addressing climate change requires a multi-layered approach that includes strategic action and supporting community-led initiatives to build resiliency. Ramsey County is uniquely qualified to partner with community and key stakeholders to lead courageously and address climate change.

Racial equity and shared power

Ramsey County is committed to advancing racial equity and environmental justice so all residents live, play and work in a clean and healthy environment. This year, Ramsey County will host an environmental summit where community members and partners will be invited to help co-design, improve, implement and evaluate policies and services for those who are impacted by climate change in racially and ethnically diverse communities. Through a series of engagement sessions, community members, stakeholders and partners will be invited to jointly co-design, improve, implement, and evaluate policies, practices and service delivery in a way that centers the experience of those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and will benefit from identified services.

Key actions and projects

2022-23 will include capacity building, creating strategy, engaging key stakeholders, and inviting community members to be integral to the work.

Internal planning and operations

Hired a planning specialist dedicated to creating and implementing public health and county-wide health and climate change planning.
Assess all existing county documents and create a summary and integration of all reports.
Develop policies and options for employee incentives to contribute to slowing the effects of climate change. This could include, but is not limited to, bike accessibility to county buildings, bus passes, parking lot assessments, and other incentives that reduce carbon emissions and eliminate reliance on fossil fuels.

Partnering with community

Build a community-wide team including key community stakeholders, community members, community leaders and stakeholders from other systems to co-design a joint response to climate change, set a longer-term vision for our specific work, identify meaningful actions and strategies and measure performance and evaluate outcomes.

Planning for public policy work

Amplify the work identified in the assessment and summit, including policy changes, strategies that support decarbonization, improve water/air quality, promote solar energy, leverage capital improvements, and secure funding to complete these strategic initiatives.

Outcomes and measures

We will identify countywide performance measures from the Strategic Energy Plan from the Energy Governance Team as part of the supplemental budget process. In addition, the engagement process will aim to identify metrics, community indicators, and outcomes building off of the county’s long-term visioning and strategic actions to address the impacts of climate change on health and well-being of residents across Ramsey County as well as advance environmental justice.