Each year, members of the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice give an award recognizing a community for their exemplary work in climate communication and environmental resilience. This year, the group is pleased to announce that the award winner is the city of Pensacola, located in northwest Florida.
Pensacola has organized a wide array of resilience and climate communication projects. One of the city’s chief accomplishments in the field of resilience was the creation of a Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Task Force in 2014, with its first meeting held in March 2017. Input from this task force over several months resulted in a comprehensive report that can serve as a road map for local climate policy.
City staff have also made strides in identifying long-term environmental stressors and vulnerabilities. A sea level rise vulnerability assessment was completed in order to identify priority action areas the city should act on to adapt to changing sea levels. Later, these sea level rise action areas were integrated into the city’s comprehensive plan and have helped inform outreach to local residents on flood resilience.
Pensacola has also committed to ambitious renewable energy targets, with the goal of obtaining 30% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. The city’s strides toward renewable energy resulted in a gold designation from SolSmart for its efforts in the development of solar power. Pensacola is the first city on the Gulf Coast to receive this honor. In tandem with the city’s work on renewable energy, Pensacola’s sustainability coordinator has completed a greenhouse gas operation inventory, which will guide outreach and education to city residents on ways in which they can help reduce local emissions.
To achieve these outcomes, the city has developed a large network of partners. Pensacola has worked with researchers, non-profits, academics, private sectors, and local, state and federal partners. The city’s resilience measures exemplify unique policy approaches and collaborative decision-making that other communities can emulate and follow as they address environmental challenges of their own. These exemplary qualities show why Pensacola is a worthy recipient of the 2024 Spirit of Community Award.
More information is available online about the Climate and Resilience Community of Practice.
Meet the author
Stephen Deal
Extension Specialist (Land Use Planning)
Stephen works with floodplain managers, building officials, city officials, scientists and Sea Grant partners to provide information and training related to flood and storm resilience. He holds a... Read more
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