Part 1 This section reviews managed retreat - the planned relocation of residents away from natural hazards - to better understand adaptation needs and the barriers to effective adaptation planning. We begin with a discussion of the current federal government approach to climate change adaptation and disaster planning. We highlight the pressing need to understand how to effectively plan for managed retreat, given that the relocation of communities will become an increasingly unavoidable reality as sea levels rise and flooding intensifies. Managed retreat is an especially useful lens through which to understand local challenges to climate change adaptation initiatives. As an adaptation strategy that necessitates high degrees of collaboration, planning, and consensus building, as well as access to high-quality, locally relevant data and information, there is much to be learned from managed retreat that can be applied to climate change adaptation as a whole. This section examines the informational, psychological, financial, and institutional and political barriers that affect managed retreat and adaptation planning in general, in order to inform the adaptation planning solutions proposed in Part 2 of this report. Specifically, this section builds the case for high-quality climate services that will enhance all adaptation approaches and are a precondition for successful managed retreat policies.
I. Background: Federal Funding of Disaster Response and Proactive Adaptation Summary: Federal resilience funding in the U.S. has largely been directed toward postdisaster recovery, although this has begun to change with recent federal investment in proactive adaptation. Flooding is an expensive problem and an especially important area of focus for U.S. adaptation planning. Managed retreat will be one of the most costeffective ways for the U.S. to manage increased flood risks in the 21st century.
Proactive investment in climate change adaptation has proven to be cost-effective; for example, a 2017 report from FEMA and other federal agency partners reviewed the economic efficiency of pre-disaster adaptation and found that a one dollar federal investment in disaster mitigation saved six dollars over the long run.1 Despite this, the bulk of federal funding has historically
National Institute of Building Sciences. (2017). Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2017 Interim Report. FEMA. https://www. fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/fema_ms2_interim_report_2017.pdf 1
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