Rhode Island Statewide Coastal Resilience Plan
Rhode Island has developed “Resilient Rhody 2025,” its Statewide Coastal Resilience Plan, in response to the increasing risks posed by sea-level rise, extreme weather, and other impacts of climate change to our communities. This plan will guide our adaptation and response to these growing challenges. As part of the development, community members, local organizations, and partners from across the state joined community forums and provided input that directly shaped the plan.
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How to Read Resilient Rhody 2025
Resilient Rhody 2025 is organized into a Plan Summary and nine supporting chapters.
The Plan Summary provides an accessible overview of key takeaways, while each chapter offers a more detailed explanation of the methodology, engagement approach, and findings. These chapters also include practical resources for practitioners. The following pages present examples of the types of content featured in each chapter.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the four community forums, six municipal stakeholder meetings, and the Health Equity Zone Frontline Community Forum conducted throughout the Plan’s development. The chapter details the theme, location, date, number of attendees, and activities for each session along with key takeaways and explanation of how those insights were incorporated into the Plan.
Chapter 2 includes all 79 Resilient Rhody 2025 actions and establishes cross-agency goals for each asset type. Each action page summarizes the action, identifies the responsible agency(ies) or lead party(ies), outlines the primary driver(s), details implementation needs, lists potential funding sources and estimated amounts, and provides a timeline and success metrics to move towards implementation.
Chapter 3 outlines the methodology and results for the Statewide Climate Vulnerability Assessment. The result pages identify asset-hazard risks across all assessed asset types and five hazards: coastal flooding, stormwater flooding, riverine flooding, extreme heat, and extreme wind. Asset-hazard pairs were assessed under current and future time horizons and two emissions scenarios, data permitting. The findings illustrate how risk is projected to change over time for each assessed pair.
Chapter 4 includes all the priority assets that were identified through Resilient Rhody 2025’s prioritization process. The chapter provides more detail on the prioritization approach, which incorporates results from the statewide climate vulnerability assessment, development of weighted prioritization criteria, and integration of statewide feedback.
Chapter 5 presents climate adaptation and resilience solutions organized into ten asset-based solution typologies aligned with the State’s priority assets. Each solution outlines the key strategies, implementation steps, cost estimates, and a funding approach to guide successful implementation
Chapter 6 provides a framework for identifying and securing funding to implement both the Resilient Rhody 2025 Actions outlined in Chapter 2 and the Climate Adaptation & Resilience solutions detailed in Chapter 5. For the Actions, the chapter summarizes funding and implementation needs by responsible entity and asset type. For the Solutions, each includes potential funding mechanisms, the recommended funding approach, and the role the State should play in supporting implementation.
Chapter 7 provides an inventory of resilience funding and financing sources and mechanisms. Each funding source includes details on program administration, scale, and eligible activities. A side panel identifies relevant hazards, asset types, and eligible applicants.
Chapter 8 outlines both the Asset and Project Prioritization Frameworks. The Asset Prioritization Framework was used to identify and prioritize the assets included in this Plan and is intended to be replicated when assessing additional assets in the future. The Project Prioritization Framework is designed to guide the prioritization of projects once they have been identified.
Chapter 9 presents 12 best practices for advancing climate resilience. Each best practice is supported by case studies demonstrating how it has been implemented. Relevant hazards, corresponding Resilient Rhody 2025 Actions, and key takeaways for Rhode Island are highlighted for each best practice.
Background on Resilient Rhody
In 2018, Rhode Island produced its first comprehensive climate preparedness strategy, Resilient Rhody. The document outlined the climate impacts facing our state and identified 61 key resilience actions across areas such as Critical Infrastructure & Utilities, Natural Systems, Emergency Preparedness, Community Health & Resilience, and Financing Climate Resilience Projects. These actions aim to protect our infrastructure and our natural resources, strengthen our economy, preserve the health of our environment, and keep Rhode Islanders safe. The development of the plan, informed by 10 statewide roundtable discussions, strengthened collaboration among state agencies, municipalities, and communities across Rhode Island.
Since then, state agencies, municipalities, and partners have collaborated to implement innovative programs, funding mechanisms, and technical assistance. From green infrastructure projects to health equity initiatives and emergency preparedness improvements, our communities are better protected today than they were when Resilient Rhody began. These initiatives are documented in the Resilient Rhody 2021 Three-Year Impact Report and in the Resilient Rhody 2024 State of Resilience Report
Additional Resources
- R.I. Infrastructure Bank Releases Resilient Rhody Three Year Impact Update Report (11/22/21)
- Governor Raimondo Announces Resilient Rhody, Rhode Island's First Climate Preparedness Strategy (7/28/18)
- RI Division of Statewide Planning: Adaptation & Resilience
- RI Department of Environmental Management: Climate Change
