Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation

Climate change is having an immediate and sometimes life-threatening impact, especially for older adults - generally speaking, people 65 or older. Older adults often face mobility, cognitive, and resource challenges, which contribute to a disproportionate number of deaths in the face of major disasters. But some challenges are less visible. Consider the grandparent who no longer can stand and wait at the bus stop because of the heat, or the retiree who lives in a home with black mold due to chronic flooding that she can’t afford to remediate or leave because of her limited fixed income.

Our population is aging--by 2034, the US will have more people over 65 than under 18. Despite the evidence that climate change is severely impacting older adults, and the reality that communities will be confronted with more frequent and more severe disasters, we’re not prepared to address the needs of older adults and other vulnerable populations in the face of a changing climate.

In Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation, community resilience and housing expert Danielle Arigoni argues that we cannot achieve true resilience until communities adopt interventions that work to meet the needs of their oldest residents. She explains that when we plan for those most impacted by climate, and for those with the greatest obstacles to opportunity and well-being, we improve conditions for all.

Arigoni explores how to integrate age-friendly resilience into community planning and disaster preparedness efforts through new planning approaches--including an age-friendly process, and a planning framework dedicated to inclusive disaster recovery--to create communities that serve the needs of older adults better, not only during disasters but for all the days in between. Examples are woven throughout the book, including case studies of age-friendly resilience in action from New York State; Portland, Oregon and Multnomah County; and New Orleans.

Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation will help professionals and concerned citizens understand how to best plan for both the aging of our population and the climate changes underway so that we can create safer, more livable communities for all.

Danielle is a policy and program expert in the fields of livable communities, affordable housing, and climate resilience. She has worked for more than 25 years in the federal government and nonprofit sectors in pursuit of more equitable, sustainable, and resilient places. She began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya and has since led impactful and innovative teams at USAID, EPA, HUD, and AARP, currently serving as Managing Director of Policy and Solutions at National Housing Trust. She serves on the boards of Smart Growth America and the League of American Bicyclists.