U.S. Department of Homeland
Security Awards Contract to the Association of Climate
Change Officers
October 12, 2016 – Washington, DC –
The Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) is the
recipient of a $78,000 contract issued by the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) through the National Institute of
Hometown Security (NIHS).
This initiative will focus on understanding
the impacts of climate change on our national
infrastructure. Specifically, ACCO will establish a
consensus of competencies and knowledge areas aimed at
integrating climate change decision-making in the Critical
Infrastructure community. ACCO will be responsible for
convening experts in the public and private sectors to
identify, map, and assess already established capabilities,
and then augment those capabilities through the development
of tools and resources.
“Since 2009, ACCO has been a critical
resource to Federal agencies in convening key stakeholders
on climate change related considerations. This project
enables ACCO to bring interested parties together to advance
climate change competencies in infrastructure communities
and work toward establishing a climate-smart workforce,”
said ACCO’s executive director Daniel Kreeger. “The project
advances our efforts to develop needed climate preparedness
curriculum and establish a network of academic institutions
and credentialing bodies providing that training across
professional roles and sectors.”
The project is part of a larger effort by
DHS, which is interested in advancing capacity in the 16
critical infrastructure sectors to be adaptive to climate
change and resilient to related extreme events.
ACCO will be convening a broad range of
experts from peer nonprofits and trade associations,
government agencies, the private sector and the academic community. The project covers
all 16 of the critical infrastructure sectors (referenced at
https://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors) whose
assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual,
are considered so vital to the United States that their
incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating
effect on security, national economic security, national
public health or safety, or any combination thereof.
"Climate change and related extreme events
present substantial challenges for decision makers in
critical infrastructure sectors," said Melanie Dickersbach,
Climate and Environment Strategy Manager at Exelon
Corporation and an ACCO board member since 2013. "ACCO looks
forward to working with Federal and subnational government
experts, our peers in the private sector and nonprofit
stakeholders to advance human capital on climate
preparedness.”
Funding for the project is provided by
the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate in the
Office of Infrastructure Protection, through the Technology
Development & Deployment Program (TDDP) which is implemented
by The National Institute For Hometown Security.
About the Association of Climate Change
Officers
The Association of Climate Change Officers
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization for
executives and officials worldwide in industry, government,
academia and the non-profit community. ACCO’s mission is to
define, develop and support the functions, resources and
communities necessary for effective organizational
leadership in addressing climate-related risks and
opportunities. For more information about ACCO, please visit
www.accoonline.org.
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