Giving Compass' Take:

• Climate resilience initiatives in Boston can potentially exacerbate existing inequalities by disproportionately protecting people that are not from low-income, marginalized communities. 

• How can donors ensure that investments toward climate resilience efforts are equitable? How can these efforts be more inclusive of populations that will be severely affected by climate change? 

• Read about what the changing climate means for indigenous people.

In Mayor Marty Walsh's new capital plan for large investments by the city of Boston, at least 10 percent of spending will go toward prepping parks and infrastructure for the effects of climate change.

The city’s resilience initiatives are wrapped in the language of equity—in Walsh's words, representing "Boston's historic commitment to our collective well-being."

But some experts worry the push for climate adaptation could make inequality worse, a possible multiplier of the so-called "green gentrification" they say is already underway in two neighborhoods at the center of the city's climate resilience strategy: East Boston and South Boston.

But some advocates say there are signs that the push for a climate-resilient city could make life harder for residents struggling to make it in a city of skyrocketing rents and some of the greatest income disparities in the nation.

Researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona say they've produced the first analysis of "green gentrification" underway in the city. In still-unpublished data shared with WBUR, the researchers show a correlation between new green spaces on one hand and, on the other, neighborhoods becoming wealthier, more educated and whiter.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate Isabelle Anguelovski, who co-directs the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, argues that, "while [Boston] seems committed to inclusive planning ... we have not heard much about climate gentrification or the risk of mid- to long-term displacement of socially vulnerable residents."

In an interview, Anguelovski warned the city's efforts could result in a "climate resilience crisis" that leads to large-scale displacement of poor residents.

"Boston has to radically change the way it's doing urban greening, together with affordable housing, to be able to avoid this," she said.

Read the full article about climate resilience and equality by Simón Ríos at Pacific Standard.