City Selected for Climate Resilience District Incubator

The City of San Rafael, in partnership with the County of Marin, was chosen to participate in a Climate Resilience District Incubator program with California Forward (CA FWD) and Resilient Cities Catalyst. The intention of the Incubator is to help the City and County better understand California's Climate Resilience District legislation (SB 852) and the opportunities for shared governance and financing to address climate impacts such as flooding from sea level rise.

Across the country, local governments face a difficult reality: tighter budgets, competing priorities, and growing pressure on public resources. At the same time, climate impacts like wildfire, drought, flooding, and extreme heat are becoming more frequent and more costly. In San Rafael alone, addressing the impacts of sea level rise is estimated at between $700 million and $2 billion - far exceeding the City's ability to fund. County-wide estimates are upwards of $17 billion!

Climate Resilience Districts offer one promising way to support communities in sustained funding, long-term planning, and decision-making that reflects local priorities. In both California and Connecticut, the state legislatures have taken action to support communities with district-based models that align governance, financing, and implementation around long-term resilience goals. In practice, these models remain relatively nascent, partially due to barriers such as limited local capacity, complex governance questions, and the challenge of building a clear investment pathway for resilient development.

That's why CA FWD and Resilient Cities Catalyst launched the Resilience District Incubator program: to work directly with communities exploring whether and how a Climate Resilience District could help them invest in and deliver long-term resilience solutions. With flooding already affecting vulnerable communities and San Rafael's sea level rise challenge, the City Council last year approved exploration of a Climate Resilience District as part of the Sustainability Division's 3-year workplan. In Spring 2026, the City and the County of Marin jointly applied to participate in the Incubator with support from the Marin Community Foundation and Coastal Quest and were selected as one of seven participants from California and Connecticut.

Learn more about the Resilience District Incubator program.