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Climate Solutions University Climate Adaptation: Getting “Buy-In” Northwest Tribal Water Rights Conference Anchorage, Alaska October 10, 2014 1 MODEL FOREST POLICY PROGRAM & CUMBERLAND RIVER COMPACT Toby Thaler [email protected] 206 697-4043 2 I worked for Alaska Legal Services out of the Dillingham office in 1976-77 3 Climate Adaption Planning Four Steps: • Put together team • Conduct resource and impact assessment (risks and opportunities) • Prepare and adopt action plan • Implement Fifth Step: • Monitor results and revise plan as needed (Adaptive Management) Source: Snover, A.K., L. Whitely Binder, J. Lopez, E. Willmott, J. Kay, D. Howell, and J. Simmonds. 2007. Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional, and State Governments 4 “Buy-in” is mostUniversity critical… Climate Solutions Four Steps: • Put together team • Conduct resource and impact assessment (risks and opportunities) • Prepare and adopt action plan • Implement Fifth Step: • Monitor results and revise plan as needed (Adaptive Management) 5 Aspects of “buy-in” criteria . Team = Engagement and Participation (including FTE) Adopt Action Plan = Policy Commitment (plus $ and FTE) Revise Plan = Policy Commitment (and more $ and FTE) 6 Context of “buy-in” . Organizational environment: Know who has authority to make policy decisions and commit resources ($ and FTE) Credibility: Do the plan leaders have the expertise to oversee preparation of a credible assessment Strength in numbers: The more interests you get on board (team), the more likely key decision makers will “buy in” Agendas exist: “What’s in it for me?” is always uppermost in policy decision makers mind 7 Relationships are Crucial . Planning by team is a collaborative process: relationships are key to success It takes time to build the necessary trust But: The policy decisions are usually made beyond the team; the team members must be committed to “sell” the plan to the decision makers in their own organizations 8 Example . Assessment results: Climate change will result in a critical need to leave water in stream to conserve fisheries (no consumptive withdrawals) Buy-in questions: Does the planning team include employees of the land owners/government entities with jurisdiction over water quantity? Did the team agree with the assessment’s conclusions AND commit to work for plan adoption AND implementation? (i.e., both $ and FTEs—a long term commitment) 9 Resources . A Community Based Approach to Improving Resilience of Forests and Water Resources: A Local and Regional Climate Adaptation Methodology, Thaler, Griffith, and Gilliam 2014 http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_p071/rmrs_p071_361_378.pdf A Framework to Diagnose Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation, Moser and Ekstrom 2010 https://static.weadapt.org/knowledgebase/files/952/5241a63f0f66cpnas-2010-moser-1007887107.pdf 10 For more information on Climate Solutions University, please contact: Josh Dye [email protected] 11