Our Latest Work
Current Initiatives
The CCRC is involved in a wide range of projects, ranging from the development of planning tools and on-the-ground research to supporting community-led projects to reduce emissions and much more. Learn more about our latest projects below.
Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy: Past, Present, and Future
Proceedings of the March 21, 2025, New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center Conference
On March 21, 2025, the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers University hosted a day-long conference titled “Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy: Past, Present and Future.” Approximately 200 New Jersey leaders came together to engage in a dialogue about the state’s climate change goals and policies, challenges to reaching those goals, relevant lessons that can be learned from outside New Jersey, and opportunities that New Jersey can explore to further advance its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to changing climate conditions. These proceedings provide a synthesis of ideas presented, generated, and discussed to inform ongoing efforts in New Jersey to advance sound climate change policy.
Historical Timelines of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy in New Jersey
This document provides historical timelines with respect to New Jersey’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., climate change mitigation) as well as reduce its vulnerability to climate change impacts (i.e., climate change adaptation). They provide a window into the evolution of innovations in New Jersey climate change policy. For context, the report juxtaposes these timelines with seminal United States climate change policy mitigation and adaptation actions. These timelines were originally developed and shared with participants at the March 21, 2025, conference Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy: Past, Present and Future hosted by the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center (NJCCRC) at Rutgers University.
Current and Future Flood Exposure to New Jersey Properties and Associated Assessed Property Value at Risk
People and property are at risk from current and future flood related hazards in New Jersey. This report uses the state MOD-IV property tax assessment and parcel dataset to analyze the acreage of land parcels and the economic value of the structures potentially at risk from current and future flood scenarios in New Jersey. All flood scenarios show a disproportionate potential impact to residential properties compared to other property classes. A considerable number of properties and structures currently reside in the FEMA 1% and 0.2% flood hazard areas and at risk from flooding events already occurring in the state and at increasing frequency and intensity. While there are relatively smaller impacts in the coastal area due to regularly occurring nuisance flooding, sea-level rise estimates for the upper end of the likely range project up to 2.1 feet of sea-level rise could occur by 2050 and thus properties or structures could be fully or partially inundated by then, resulting in permanent disruption to these areas. Projecting out to 2100, the same models estimate up to 5 feet of sea-level rise which is shown to have much greater impact to coastal areas of the state, resulting in the potential permanent loss of properties and structures that could have substantial impacts to these communities.
Comparison of New Jersey’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets with United States’ Nationally Determined Contribution and Projected Global Reduction Pathways Consistent with the Paris Agreement
This report assesses the extent to which New Jersey’s 2030 interim emissions reduction target and the 2050 statutory limit are aligned with current scientific assessments of emissions reductions necessary to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goals.
Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy
A day-long dialogue regarding New Jersey’s state climate policies, where New Jersey has to go to reach its climate goals, challenges to reaching those goals, lessons we can learn from others, and opportunities that we might explore with leading local and national experts.
Blueberry and Cranberry Pest Information for New Jersey Growers
The CCRC is teaming with the Rutgers Integrated Pest Management Program to develop models of pest activity in highly valuable blueberry and cranberry crops. The models are used to alert growers to pests such as Sparganothis fruitworm and spotted-wing drosophila and to gather information on how pest activity may increase with climate change.
Rutgers NJ Inland Design Flood Elevation Layer
The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) recently adopted its Inland Flood Rule which, among other actions, establishes a new Design Flood Elevation (DFE) standard for specific types of new construction and redevelopment. In consultation with the NJDEP, the NJ Climate Change Resource Center prepared a new data layer consistent with the new 2023 DFE standard (1% Chance Annual Flood Plus 3 Feet) for inclusion in its NJADAPT suite of data visualization and mapping tools.
15-Minute Neighborhoods: A Pathway to Creating Healthier, More Just, Resilient & Sustainable Communities in New Jersey
This report summarizes the results of a two-year planning and research study designed to investigate how a comprehensive, multi-goal planning and policy framework can be used to achieve carbon-neutral transportation choices that simultaneously support healthy, just, and resilient communities for all New Jersey residents.
Monetizing Health Benefits of Offshore Wind Expansion and Demand Reduction Strategies in New Jersey
Professor Mark Rodgers, Rutgers Business School, led an analysis of the potential health benefits of wind energy expansion and energy demand reduction strategies for New Jersey.
Heat Vulnerability Assessment Workgroup
The CCRC is facilitating a group of academic and state agency partners working on projects related to assessing community-based heat vulnerability in New Jersey. We are building a community of practice to share methods, lessons learned, and best practices for community-based air monitoring.
Enhanced data-visualization tools help New Jersey plan for climate change
An expansion of NJADAPT — a suite of decision-support tools developed at Rutgers — provides essential information to communities preparing for climate impacts.
Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP)
The CCRC has been assisting the NJDEP in development of a statewide Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) pursuant to the USEPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program. Specifically, the CCRC has been leading some of the PCAP stakeholder engagement efforts, conducting an assessment of benefits of priority climate actions to low-income and disadvantaged communities, and identifying workforce development opportunities associated with implementation of priority climate actions.
