City of Miami Partners with Global Center on Adaptation to Open First U.S. Office in Miami
Miami, FL - Today, the City of Miami and Dutch government officials finalized an agreement that will bring the Netherlands-based Global Center on Adaptation’s (GCA) first U.S. office to Miami. Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen joined Mayor Francis Suarez in Miami to sign the joint declaration. The GCA’s new Miami regional office will join branch offices that opened in the Dutch cities of Rotterdam and Groningen last year.
“Collaboration lies at the core of the Global Center on Adaptation model for advancing long-term solutions to many of our most crucial resiliency challenges,” said Mayor Suarez. “This joint declaration signals, yet again, how the issue of climate adaptability continues to unite us and foster cooperation among organizations and countries, like the Netherlands, from across the globe to pave the way as climate solution leaders.”
The GCA operates as a knowledge broker to assist countries, regions and cities to develop solutions aimed at improving their resilience to the changing climate, such as the rising sea level and prolonged periods of drought. The new GCA Miami Office will be fulfilling this role for Miami, which is on the frontlines of climate change, and for the entire North American continent.
“As is the case in the Netherlands, its low elevation is facing Miami with the need to reinforce its coast in order to cope with the rising sea level, and to redesign vulnerable sections of this metropolis,” said Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen. “By accommodating this new climate expertise office with a Dutch touch, Mayor Suarez once more underlines his message that timely investments to mitigate climate damage will be more efficient and cheaper than having to clean up the damage afterwards.”
Mayor Suarez joined the Global Commission on Adaptation as a member last year as the only mayor in the United States selected to the Commission. This international commission was set up on the initiative of Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen; it is chaired by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In addition to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, its goal is to convince countries and regions of the need for timely investments in adaptation to the impact of the changing climate.
In addition to the experience that the City of Miami will be sharing from this regional office, its staff will also disseminate practical climate solutions from other continents. Earlier this year, the GCA opened an office in Beijing, which will service the Asian region.
