How to prepare for climate migration in the US

Brookings Institution
District of Columbia
01/22/2025 at 10:00AM

Climate change is already provoking mass migration, and as environmental conditions worsen, that trend will accelerate. In the coming decades, the United States will be increasingly affected by sea level rise, hurricanes, extreme heat, wildfires and freshwater shortages, among other hazards. Millions of Americans will respond by moving. How to prepare for and respond to the challenges of climate change will be a primary governance question for the years to come.

On January 22, join Governance Studies at Brookings for a conversation on domestic climate migration in the United States. Experts will explore questions including: How are U.S. communities vulnerable to climate change?  What steps are being taken at a federal, state and local level to prepare localities to adapt to climate risks and to welcome new residents displaced by climate disasters? Can preparations for the upheaval of climate change be structured to help address longstanding inequities of wealth, health and opportunity?

Viewers can submit questions for speakers by emailing [email protected] or via Twitter at @BrookingsGov by using #USClimateMigration.

Register to attend in person.

Panelists:

  • Abrahm Lustgarten, Reporter - ProPublica
  • Shana Tabak, Adjunct Professor of Law - Georgetown University Law Center
  • Beth Gibbons, Resiliency Officer - Washtenaw County, Michigan

Moderator:

  • Vanessa Williamson, Senior Fellow - Governance Studies, Senior Fellow - Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

At The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium

1775 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington, D.C. 20036

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