海角视频

Los Angeles County Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA)

Los Angeles, CA

With the County of Los Angeles Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA), 海角视频 led a team to proactively identify the people, places, and systems most vulnerable to escalating climate change impacts. We were 鈥榯hought partners鈥� with the County in creating a new approach to assessing vulnerability.

This comprehensive study assessed the populations that are vulnerable due to factors such as age, income level, or pre-existing health conditions, as well as hazards to the physical infrastructure and the cascading impacts that occur when these infrastructure systems are disrupted.

The CVA process, through a combined qualitative and quantitative approach, highlighted the voices, stories, and experiences of frequently excluded, highly vulnerable groups. An interactive mapping tool allows stakeholders to explore how the study鈥檚 vulnerability data applies to different communities and to inform action for unincorporated areas and the county鈥檚 88 cities.

Los Angeles Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) sought to identify the people, places, and systems most vulnerable to escalating climate change impacts.

The study assessed populations that are vulnerable due to factors such as age, income level, or pre-existing health conditions, as well as hazards to the County’s physical infrastructure.

This project kept equity as its key focus, putting social vulnerability front and center throughout.

The assessment established a common understanding of climate vulnerability to inspire local action.

Challenge

The climate vulnerability assessment stems from the county鈥檚 successful sustainability plan, also led by 海角视频. It would be an important first step in implementing the OurCounty Sustainability Plan, and would act as a foundation for the County and cities preparing for climate change and creating plans that will help protect the most vulnerable people, places, and systems.

In recent years, LA County has experienced record-breaking high temperatures, prolonged drought, and more-intense wildfires. Each unprecedented event strains communities, directly harming health, infrastructure, and the natural resources residents rely on. Such climate hazards are projected to become increasingly severe and frequent in the coming decades. The LA County CVA fulfils a commitment outlined in the OurCounty Sustainability Plan, identified by stakeholders as a top priority: to assess how people and infrastructure in LA County may be vulnerable to the changing climate.

The County鈥檚 vision of sustainability demands a better understanding of increasingly dangerous threats. A key challenge in the preparation of the CVA would be conducting wide stakeholder engagement, particularly within the communities most at risk of being severely impacted by the effects of climate change. This would need to be carried out in collaboration with partner organisations, as a series of workshops and community events.

Solution

The OurCounty Sustainability Plan set a vision for regional climate leadership and collaboration rooted in equity and resilience. The new countywide CVA and the accompanying mapping tool deliver actionable insights for social and physical vulnerabilities that will benefit not only unincorporated county areas but also its 88 cities. The analysis will serve as the foundation for adaptation planning efforts and help communities prepare for the increasing impacts of climate change.

With extensive knowledge of climate change impacts and resilience efforts, the Los Angeles County CVA team, led by 海角视频, also included Climate Resolve, which led the stakeholder engagement process, Jessica Ruvinsky with Bellwether Collaboratory, who led the cascading impacts analysis, and several advisors including energy and infrastructure specialist Mikhail Chester, and the sustainability and equity expert Natalie Donlin-Zappella.

The assessment identified communities of concern in terms of environmental justice 鈥� communities that are not only at high risk of exposure to climate threats but also have an elevated risk of bad outcomes from that exposure. These highly vulnerable communities, many of which were Black or Latino communities, suffered a legacy of disparities in education, housing, nutrition, health, and many other aspects of our lives.

The report identified a series of key hazards that need to be mitigated against. The Climate Hazard Assessment (CHA) identified climate hazards and evaluates present-day and projected changes in exposure for extreme heat, wildfire, inland flooding, extreme precipitation, coastal flooding, and drought.

The Social Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) evaluated the climate vulnerabilities of different population groups and communities across LA County, using 29 indicators that broadly fall into the following 10 categories: age, community and language, occupation, education, health, housing, income and wealth, race and ethnicity, access to information, and transportation.

The Physical Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) evaluated the climate vulnerability of different physical infrastructure and facilities, including 49 infrastructure types that fall into 11 primary categories: communications, community and other facilities, economic centers, emergency response, energy, housing for sensitive populations, medical facilities, natural resources, transportation, waste, and water.

The Cascading Impacts Assessment highlighted the social impacts of interdependent infrastructure failure and the need to develop adaptation measures that prioritize not just the direct impact of the physical infrastructure but the impact of the services that it supports and the people that rely on those services.

This is an important first step in implementing the OurCounty Sustainability Plan, and it is a foundation for the County and cities preparing for climate change and creating plans that will help protect the most vulnerable people, places, and systems.

Gary Gero
Chief Sustainability Officer for the County of Los Angeles

Value

This project kept equity as its key focus, putting social vulnerability front and center throughout. We were 鈥榯hought partners鈥� with the County in creating a new approach to assessing vulnerability. Our experts used qualitative and quantitative methods to create a combined approach that highlights the voices, stories, and experiences of frequently excluded, highly vulnerable groups.

The Los Angeles County Climate Vulnerability Assessment report and mapping tool are available on the County鈥檚 website .

The Los Angeles County Climate Vulnerability Assessment comprehensively identifies the disproportionate impact a changing climate has on different communities in the county, as well as the challenges posed by climate hazards such as extreme heat, drought, wildfire, sea level rise and flooding.鈥�

Sabrina Bornstein
Head of Climate Resilience at 海角视频
Former deputy chief resilience officer in the City of Los Angeles Mayor鈥檚 office