Living with Climate Change: Integrating Equity into Emergency Management

Find out more about the briefings in this series below:

Integrating Equity into Emergency Management

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to view a briefing on how the federal government as well as states and cities around the country can better incorporate equity into emergency management. Climate change is driving more frequent and severe impacts such as polar vortices, sea level rise, wildfires, and extreme heat, which were covered in EESI’s Living with Climate Change briefing series. When disaster strikes, underserved communities are often hit hardest and longest. Ensuring that equity is incorporated into all aspects of emergency management—from preparedness to response to recovery—creates more resilient communities that are better able to live with climate change.

Panelists discussed the steps that Congress can take to more comprehensively integrate equity into emergency management, including how to ensure that large federal investments such as the ones in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act do not cause harm to communities.

This briefing is part of a series called Living with Climate Change that ran through July and focused on strategies, policies, and programs preparing communities around the country for four major climate threats: polar vortices, sea level rise, wildfires, extreme heat, and integrating equity into emergency management.

The series ran in parallel with another briefing series, Scaling Up Innovation to Drive Down Emissions, covering hydrogen, direct air capture, offshore wind, electric vehicle infrastructure build-out, and how start-up accelerators can drive climate action.

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Most emergency management should occur before disaster strikes. Pre-disaster funding and preparedness should be more equitable and focus on community-supported outcomes.
There is a need to increase diversity among emergency management officials and decision makers while prioritizing equity and inclusion. By focusing funding on community-based organizations, it is easier to ensure that equity is prioritized.
In order to better support tribes in disaster preparedness and climate adaptation, it is necessary to improve the process for state and federal tribe recognition. Some states do not have a process to recognize their state tribes. The federal process is costly, burdensome, and needs to be in alignment with the right for self-determination.
Even if a tribe does not have federal recognition, the members of that tribe are still tax-paying U.S. citizens. This seems to be unaccounted for in much of federal policy. Many tribes do not see tax dollars invested back into their communities, especially in disaster response and recovery projects.
Many times, information and resources are not available to communities that need them the most. There is a need for improved access and awareness of disaster mitigation, preparedness, and recovery funding opportunities.

Chauncia Willis, Co-Founder and CEO, Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM)

In times of disaster, the impacts of structural racism and poverty bias on U.S. preparedness, response, and recovery are clear.
I-DIEM was created to disrupt the systems of inequity. The organization’s mission is to support the development and implementation of innovative, community-based programs that focus on disaster mitigation and adaptation plans for vulnerable and underserved communities.
There is a need to increase diversity among emergency management officials and decision makers while prioritizing equity and inclusion.
I-DIEM’s trainings for emergency managers start with highlighting the history of emergency management and bias in natural disasters.
I-DIEM’s equity response teams are deployable teams dedicated to ensuring equity in disaster response and recovery for vulnerable communities.
There are many problematic inequities within emergency management because the systems that exist within the United States are built on inequities.
Seventy-five percent of emergency managers in the United States are white males. There are no people of color leading emergency management jurisdictions in Louisiana.
Diverse and underserved communities are historically not included in economic opportunity zones in Louisiana, creating racial divides throughout the state.
Discrimination and bias post-disaster have generational impacts. By focusing funding on community-based organizations, it is easier to ensure that equity is prioritized.
I-DIEM involves local communities by conducting workshops and trainings on equity and emergency management. I-DIEM seeks to provide vulnerable populations with a voice to be involved in policy and planning.

Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar, Traditional Tribal Chief, The Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw in Louisiana

Many years of extractive practices for oil and gas exploration have destroyed landscapes in the Tribe’s homeland.
The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe is working on practices to preserve and restore the land through partnerships with non-profit organizations and academia. One project pursued by the Tribe is canal backfilling, though the Tribe faces many challenges and barriers in implementing these projects.
In order to better support tribes in disaster preparedness and climate adaptation, it is necessary to improve the process for state and federal tribe recognition. Some states do not have a process to recognize their state tribes. The federal process is costly, burdensome, and needs to be in alignment with the right for self-determination. The criteria for federal recognition have been revised several times.
The process for federal recognition requires genealogical evidence compiled into a ‘concise written narrative,’ which some tribes lack the resources and funding to complete.
Even if a tribe does not have federal recognition, the members of that tribe are still tax-paying U.S. citizens. This seems to be unaccounted for in much of federal policy. Many tribes do not see tax dollars invested back into their communities, especially in disaster response and recovery projects.
Regardless of tribal status, the U.S. federal government is responsible to tribe members as U.S. citizens.
There is a need for a stronger focus on communities. The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe helped 56 families recover after Hurricane Ida with the help of non-profit organizations, faith-based organizations, and academia.
Language barriers prevent many tribal members from completing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) applications.
Many times, information and resources are not available to communities that need them the most. There is a need for improved access and awareness of disaster mitigation, preparedness, and recovery funding opportunities.
State and federal governments have not adequately incorporated traditional ecological knowledge into policies and planning. Tribal communities have historically been excluded from decision-making processes.
The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe is still struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana in late summer 2021, as are many coastal communities of color.

Q&A:

Q: How have I-DIEM and the Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe worked together to address the aftermath of Hurricane Ida?

Parfait-Dardar

The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe has lived with hurricanes for many generations, but the frequency and severity of these weather events are increasing with climate change.
The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe also has less access to the resources needed for communities to recover because they are not federally acknowledged.
Not being included in decisions that affect its community has proven to be detrimental, and communicating the needs of the community to local officials after Hurricane Ida was challenging.
Partnering with other organizations helped to close the gaps with federal and state officials and build necessary relationships.
I-DIEM offered to assist with training courses and materials that were directly based on community needs.

Willis

Many communities and tribal members affected by Hurricane Ida were not able to reach their local leaders, limiting their ability to obtain resources to recover.
State funding does not always trickle down to communities in need. Direct communication and assistance to vulnerable populations is critical in times of disaster.

Q: In what ways do you see emergency managers and community leaders thinking about pre-disaster mitigation as opposed to being entirely focused on during-disaster response and post-disaster recovery? How, if at all, do you see these shifts in thinking presenting an opportunity to make adaptation, resilience, and disaster response more equitable?

Willis

Most emergency management should occur before disaster strikes. Pre-disaster funding and preparedness should be more equitable and focus on community-supported outcomes.
FEMA and federal agencies are setting policies that have become more focused on equity, though equity takes time to be fully incorporated into emergency management.
Marginalized groups will suffer the most from the effects of climate change over the next two decades. Policies should elevate planning and disaster mitigation work for low-income communities of color.

Parfait-Dardar

While there have been some changes in dialogue, the dialogue still does not fully incorporate the voices of affected communities.
Practices that incorporate traditional ecological knowledge are often not acknowledged or funded.
As storms become more severe, frontline communities will be at a greater risk of catastrophic damage. The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe has been initiating housing projects and land restoration solutions, though they often experience barriers and a lack of funding to implement these projects.

Q: Have state and federal agencies supported traditional ecological knowledge in their deployment of nature-based solutions to address climate impacts?

Parfait-Dardar

That has not been the case in Louisiana, but some progressive states across the country have taken steps to recognize traditional ecological knowledge.
California has worked with Indigenous communities to incorporate their traditional ecological knowledge into existing state policies and practices.

Willis

Tribal communities such as the Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe are often not included in disaster mitigation meetings.
Diversity provides solutions to major climate issues.

Q: What do you think the impact of the Justice40 Initiative will be on emergency response at the community level, if any?

Willis

There is hope that the impact will be positive and inclusive.
Mississippi and Louisiana are experiencing issues with outside service providers that do not identify with diverse communities. There is no requirement to hire diverse contractors, and U.S. policies are organized in a way that favors large companies.

Parfait-Dardar

The Grand Caillou/Dulac Tribe is hopeful about the Justice40 Initiative, but the Tribe has historically been excluded from decision-making.
It is not effective to heal half of a nation. Until policies are fully inclusive, recovery initiatives will not reach their potential.
The drive around diversity, equity, and inclusion is seeming to become more prominent, so there is hope that the impact of the Justice40 Initiative can be positive.

Q: Federal agencies have a lot of work to do to center equity in their work. What sorts of reforms could they undertake that would be most impactful for the communities you work with? Are there ways that federal agencies could more inclusively incorporate input from those communities?

Willis

It is important to prioritize equity. An equity requirement in the planning and distribution of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L. 117-58) would be ideal.
If equity is not considered in the implementation of IIJA, communities can be negatively impacted. As one example, a proposed flood mitigation project in Mississippi would require a small African American community to be flooded. Problems like this can arise from infrastructure funding that does not include an equity consideration.
There should also be a requirement for all states to develop their disaster-response plans with a focus on equity.

Parfait-Dardar