The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine proposes to convene an ad hoc committee to develop a two-day workshop in Washington, DC focused on the process and results of California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment. This workshop will describe a broad set of climate assessment activities that identified vulnerabilities for the population, infrastructure, and natural resources of California, and some of the mitigation, adaption and resiliency strategies and policies that can be taken to address these vulnerabilities. The workshop will provide a discussion of how California's process for climate assessments may be applicable in other states and explore the degree to which identified strategies might be candidates to help address potential vulnerabilities and improve climate resilience in other locations. The workshop will also discuss what other states, regions, cities and the private sector are doing in climate assessment and how to coordinate multiple local efforts towards regional assessments and actions.

The planning committee will be responsible for setting the agenda of the workshop. The major topics to discuss include:

· History and evolution of California’s climate assessment process and an overview of the 4th assessment;

· Topical sessions describing some of the results of the fourth assessment;

· Strategies and policies for implementing the assessment, potentially including: how to use the results of the assessments to facilitate implementation; how to improve the process and sustain the assessments; and how the assessment process might evolve over time, especially to work within ongoing mitigation efforts.

· What other states, regions, cities and the private sector are doing in climate assessment, potentially including: the process of implementing a climate assessment; challenges facing policy makers and local actors; the issues in engaging key stakeholders such as utilities and companies; and the need for coordinating multiple local efforts towards regional and national actions;

· What are the key elements of a regional/state/local climate assessment and how to engage local and national resources (including capabilities of state and regional institutions, federal capabilities of USGCRP and other federal groups) to develop such assessments.

A rapporteur-authored proceedings of the workshop will be prepared.