The state of Massachusetts launched a new initiative on Tuesday to address the effects of climate change along the coastline of the Bay State.
While at the Carriage House in Beverly, Gov. Maura Healey unveiled the ResilientCoasts initiative, which is a more holistic approach that "will allow us to bring the full powers of the state to deliver real solutions to our coastlines."
"Climate change poses a very real threat to our coastal way of life, but it also presents a unique opportunity for us to build communities that are safer and more equitable for years to come," said Healey.
ResilientCoasts aims at finding ways the state can increase funding and develop long-term policies that would help mitigate the effects of climate change on the 78 coastal communities in Massachusetts.
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"Now is the time for action," said Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, who was also in Beverly with Healey on Tuesday. "This initiative will allow us to make prudent cost-saving investments that protect our communities and coastal ecosystems."
ResilientCoasts will be led by a new chief coastal resilience officer within the Coastal Zone Management Office.
In essence, Healey wants to be able to better respond to infrastructure erosion, the rise in sea levels, coastal flooding and prepare for extreme weather.
Much of that effort will come through the state's Coastal Zone Management, which partners with lawmakers, researchers, businesses and stakeholders to come up with strategies to improve the coastal environment.
Coastal communities have raised concerns over projections in the rise in sea levels by 2.5 feet by 2050 and cost the state more than $1 billion a year in weather damage by 2070, said Healey.
The hope is that by partnering with the private industry and with researchers, the strategies that come out of this to tackle climate change can help reduce the costs of disaster response in the future.
The ResilientCoasts initiative, said Healey, is of high importance within the state's 2023 ResilientMass Plan, which calls for nearly 150 actions to combat weather trends.
Soon after she was elected governor, Healey announced the appointment of the nation's first cabinet-level climate chief executive and called the climate crisis the greatest challenge facing the state.
