The Benefits of a Federal Climate Planning Unit

A report from the Brookings Institution outlines suggestions for "how the White House can immediately kick-start climate solutions across our built environment through a new Climate Planning Unit (CPU)." The report suggests that the proposed office could "reduce the federal fiscal impacts of climate change by developing strategic intra-agency and cross-agency mitigation and adaptation projects and programs." By creating a federal office focused on climate change, the government can more effectively "identify opportunities (and outcomes) of effective climate action with direct and capturable federal financial benefits."

Federal investment in coordinated climate change policy has the potential to elevate climate concerns in development policies across the country, write Joseph W. Kane, Jenny Schuetz, Shalini Vajjhala, and Adie Tomer. "For instance, an 18F model can serve as a template for staffing, funding, and growing a new, dedicated federal unit focused on forward-looking research, metrics, and plans." The Blueprint developed by the Brookings Institution "supports the new high-level international and domestic climate leadership in the White House by establishing a stable basis for long-term, fiscally defensible, bipartisan federal climate action to complement other legislative and executive actions." The report also recommends a focus on "low-hanging fiscal fruit" that can help projects get off the ground faster and kickstart long-term efforts.