The Murphy Administration’s Interagency Council on Climate Resilience today released its first annual report highlighting progress made to make the state more resilient to the far-reaching impacts of climate change, from the public health dangers of extreme heat to the impacts of flooding caused by sea-level rise and increasing precipitation.
Murphy Administration accomplishments include the release of New Jersey’s Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan, which focuses on mitigating the effects of extreme heat, one of the deadliest impacts of climate change; proposing land use rules to better protect coastal areas from sea-level rise; implementing a law to better inform property buyers of potential flood risk; advancing a series of actions to mitigate risk through building code updates and technical assistance for structure elevations and local mitigation planning; and integrating resilience into roadway planning, design and construction.
“Climate change poses unique threats to New Jersey’s families, infrastructure, and economy, including sea-level rise and extreme heat,” said Governor Murphy. “The Interagency Council’s report underscores our commitment to increasing the state’s resilience and taking action to protect future generations by planning for the impacts caused by climate change.”
“New Jersey is ground zero for the far-reaching impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise, more intense storms, and increased flooding of rivers and coastlines,” said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette. “The Interagency Council report released today provides an overview of the many concrete steps the Murphy Administration is taking to better protect lives and property and, perhaps even more important, provides a road map for the work that lies ahead in making New Jersey more resilient to the worsening impacts of climate change.”
“The Department of Community Affairs is incredibly proud to be at the forefront of initiatives that are advancing climate resilience in New Jersey. From better informing families of a home’s potential flood risk to helping flood-stricken homeowners elevate their homes out of harm’s way to funding infrastructure projects that better protect communities from natural disasters, DCA’s work is making a meaningful difference in safeguarding people from the effects of climate change,” said DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “DCA looks forward to continuing these efforts in the long-term and to finding other innovative ways to help New Jerseyans prepare for climate-related risks.”
“The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is proud to support Governor Murphy’s initiative in better preparing NJ for climate change,” New Jersey Turnpike Authority Executive Director James Carone said. “Our staff is actively engaged in the NJ Interagency Council where we enthusiastically share the Authority’s best practices of incorporating climate resiliency and sustainability considerations into our capital planning process as well as our operations.”
“The actions in this report demonstrate New Jersey state agencies' commitment to an all-of-government approach to resilience,” said Chief Resilience Officer Nick Angarone, who serves as the Vice Chair of the Interagency Council. “It also underscores the need to accelerate our efforts to adapt our communities, environment, and economy to the current and increasing impacts of climate change.”
State Agencies Take Action
The Interagency Council on Climate Resilience was established by Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 89. The Council is tasked with coordinating state-level efforts to develop and implement the Climate Change Resilience Strategy. The Interagency Council, initially formed with 17 executive branch agencies, is currently comprised of 26 member agencies and departments, underscoring the importance of resilience in every sector of the state’s economy and environment.
The report builds on the Two-Year Anniversary Accomplishments Report released in 2023, which highlighted more than 40 policy, regulatory, and programmatic actions state agencies had taken since the release of the Climate Change Resilience Strategy in October 2021.
Notably, 2024 marked the release of New Jersey’s Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan. The third of its kind in the nation, this plan emphasizes the myriad public health threats a warming climate poses to people and the steps government agencies are taking to mitigate and address those threats.
Heat Hub NJ was developed in tandem with the Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan and serves as a user-friendly online resource to help the public better understand and become more resilient to the impacts of extreme heat in New Jersey.
The 2024 Annual Report highlights 88 actions state agencies have taken in 2024, both individually and together, to address climate resilience. Below is a subset of actions in the Annual Report under each of the report’s six priority areas:
Priority 1: Build Healthy and Resilient Communities
- The Department of Environmental Protection proposed the NJ Protecting Against Climate Threats: Resilient Environments and Landscapes rules to account for climate change impacts in state land use rules.
- The Departments of Law & Public Safety, Community Affairs, and Environmental Protection led the implementation of New Jersey’s law on flood risk notification for real property transactions.
Priority 2: Strengthen the Resilience of New Jersey’s Ecosystems
- The Pinelands Commission completed a comprehensive review of Pinelands Management Area boundaries to identify areas designated for growth that are also vulnerable to increased climate-related risks.
Priority 3: Promote Coordinated Governance
- The Office of Emergency Management advanced 97 Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded projects through various stages of implementation, ranging from building code updates and technical assistance to elevations and local mitigation planning, coordinated through the multiagency State Hazard Mitigation Team.
- The New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s Resilience Program aims to integrate resilience into the agency’s decision-making processes (planning, design, construction, and maintenance) and provide guidance and criteria to adapt its operations, systems and assets to prepare for changing conditions and shocks.
Priority 4: Invest in Information & Increase Public Understanding
- The Department of Human Services provided Climate and Behavioral Health Training to crisis responders and the public, describing the relationship between behavioral health and climate-related hazards.
- The Department of Health developed a Heat-Related Illness Dashboard that provides a comprehensive, statewide view of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, illnesses, and mortalities associated with heat exposure.
Priority 5: Promote Climate-Informed Investments & Innovative Financing
- Through the Resilient Communities Program, the Department of Community Affairs announced grants totaling $34.47 million dollars to fund unmet recovery and mitigation needs for public infrastructure projects in ten Ida-impacted municipalities.
The NJ Economic Development Authority Board approved the Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program, which provides financing for hurricane- and flood-resistant construction improvements as well as energy efficiency and energy resilience improvements.
Priority 6: Coastal Resilience Plan
- The Department of Environmental Protection received a $72.4 million award from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to launch a five-year transformational resilience initiative, Building a Climate Ready NJ.
Bolstering the Interagency Council
In 2024 the Interagency Council established and operated specialized workgroups who meet regularly to further the goals outlined in the Council’s workplan. The Council’s successful Extreme Heat Webinar series, launched in July 2024 and continuing this spring and summer, was a direct output of the Extreme Heat Coordinated Communications Workgroup.
Additionally, the Interagency Council hosted two public listening sessions during the New Jersey Coastal and Climate Resilience Conference (March 2024) and the 2024 Annual Meeting of the New Jersey League of Municipalities (November 2024) in coordination with the Interagency Council’s Outreach & Engagement Strategy Workgroup.
The Interagency Council on Climate Resilience will publish a new annual report at the start of each year, documenting progress and successes from Council membership.