Green Infrastructure: Using Natural Landscapes for Flood Mitigation and Water Quality Improvements

Resources For the Future First Wednesday Seminar

Wednesday, April 4, 2012
12:45 - 2:00 p.m.

A light lunch will be provided starting at 12:30 p.m.
First Floor Conference Center
1616 P St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

Registration for in-person attendance is required. To RSVP for this event, please visit RFF's event registration page.
This event will also be webcast live starting at 12:45 p.m. Join the webcast at rff.org/live.

About the Event

Nature provides a wealth of ecological services: forests store carbon and clean the air; rivers provide water for drinking and harbor animal species; and wetlands purify stormwater and serve as buffers against floods. Governments around the world are increasingly recognizing that this “green infrastructure” can be a cost-effective supplement or substitute for the “gray infrastructure”—pipes, dams, levees, treatment plants—traditionally used to control flooding, purify and store water, and reduce urban stormwater runoff.
At this First Wednesday Seminar, sponsored by RFF's Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth, panelists will explore what “green infrastructure” means and describe how to evaluate the costs and benefits of land-use options for reducing flood damages. They will also discuss the challenges of convincing stakeholders that natural systems can provide infrastructure services and complement public projects. RFF experts will describe a case study evaluating flood abatement options in a Wisconsin watershed, and provide some lessons learned from working to implement a payment for environmental services program in the Florida Everglades.

Moderator:

Lynn Scarlett, Co-Director, RFF Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth

Panelists:

Margaret Walls, Research Director and Thomas J. Klutznick Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
"The Role of Land Use Policies in Minimizing Flood Damage"

Len Shabman, Resident Scholar, Resources for the Future
“A Green Infrastructure Contribution to Everglades Restoration”

Tuesday Event at the Brookings Institute

Addressing the Legal Gaps in Climate Change Migration, Displacement and Resettlement: From Sinking Islands to Flooded Deltas

Large numbers of people are expected to leave their homes and communities in the coming years because of the effects of climate change. Some will leave as a result of the increasing severity and frequency of sudden-onset disasters. Others will move as long-term processes of environmental degradation intensify, including desertification and rising sea levels. Still others are likely to be relocated by their governments when the areas where they live are declared uninhabitable. While much remains unknown about the scale, timing and nature of such population movements, it seems clear that present normative frameworks will be inadequate to deal with large-scale future movements of people as a result of climate change. Are new international treaties or guiding principles needed for climate change-induced displacement, migration and resettlement?

Event Information

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC

On April 3, the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement will host a discussion on the gaps in present normative frameworks and the pros and cons of coming up with new instruments for climate change displacement, migration and resettlement. Panelists include Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Jane McAdam, Senior Fellow Elizabeth Ferris, co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement and Michele Klein Solomon, permanent observer of the International Organization for Migration to the United Nations. Vincent Cochetel, representative from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, will moderate the discussion.

After the program, panelists will take audience questions.

Participants

Moderator

Vincent Cochetel

Representative to the United States and the Caribbean
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Panelists

Elizabeth Ferris

Co-Director, Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement

Jane McAdam

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement

Michele Klein Solomon

Permanent Observer to the United Nations
International Organization for Migration

Paul Farmer to speak in DC Monday September 12

Dr. Paul Farmer will be in DC on Monday September 12^th for a public discussion and book signing focusing on his new book, Haiti After the Earthquake, an account of the recovery efforts following the 2010 earthquake. The event will be held from 9-11am at the Ronald Reagan Building. A portion of the event’s proceeds will be donated to Partners In Health, the non-profit organization that provides a preferential option for the poor in health care. (www.pih.org). Dr. Jon LaPook of CBS News will be interviewing Dr. Farmer at the event.

Monday, September 12, 2011

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (Doors open @ 8:30 a.m.)

Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center Amphitheater

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

Metro Accessible: Metro Center and Federal Triangle

Tickets at: http://hooksbookevents-paulfarmer.eventbrite.com/

Student tickets are available. Tickets will be available at the event as well.