Earlier today, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today presented “A Stronger, More Resilient New York,” a comprehensive report that analyzes the city’s climate risks and outlines multi-year investments to increase economic development and recommendations to protect neighborhoods and infrastructure from future climate events.
This is a big win for all New Yorkers: from businesses in Hunts Point to homeowners in Breezy Point, this ambitious plan better prepares New York to more effectively respond to, and bounce back from, future storms. I commend Mayor Bloomberg for a resilience strategy that considers not just the vital need for natural and man-made barriers, but also comprehensively addresses other aspects of building resilience like insurance, energy, telecommunications and community impacts. Going forward, we must build systems that are less likely to go down during a disaster and will come back more quickly if they do go down. We cannot prevent all future disasters from occurring, but we can prevent failing catastrophically by embracing, practicing, and improving comprehensive resilience strategies.
Since 2007 the Rockefeller Foundation has been funding work on building resilience in New York City, the US and around the world. I was pleased to co-chair Governor Cuomo’s NYS2100 Commission on long-term rebuilding and resilience. Last month, we announced a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience in cities around the world. The Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge will select one hundred cities across the globe and through technical support and resources for developing and implementing plans for urban resilience, the Foundation will help cities leverage billions of additional dollars in infrastructure financing.
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