This Climate Resilience Index is the culmination of a six-month research engagement which presents a framework for developing a systematic and standardized assessment of cities’ preparedness and adaptive capacity to withstand and recover from climate-related risks and challenges. It uses metrics to evaluate the ever-changing nature of climate risks and the evolving needs of communities in the quest for climate resilience.
The Climate Resilience Index was tested with the analysis of nine cities across the continental United States, selected to provide a relatively diverse geographical view of the country. Selection was based on population size and growth rate to examine how cities of varying sizes and population dynamics cope with climate-related issues.