The Postal Service wants all employees to understand what climate risk is and what its potential effects mean for the organization.
To help educate employees about the USPS Climate Action Plan of 2021, the organization will share what it has been doing to understand, plan for and adapt to the effects of a changing climate, and to reduce its carbon footprint.
To understand the plan, it’s important to be aware of the terminology. Here are a few common terms used in climate discussions and what they mean:
• Adaptation: Climate adaptation includes adjusting natural or human systems in anticipation of, or in response to, a changing environment.
For instance, ensuring that buildings are designed and constructed in ways to withstand flooding or significant damage during an extreme weather event.
• Mitigation: Climate mitigation refers to reducing emissions sources.
Not leaving vehicles idling at USPS facilities or while delivering packages is an example of mitigation.
• Resilience: Resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing conditions, and to withstand, respond to and recover rapidly from such disruptions.
An example of resilience would be facilitating hurricane preparations in the Southeast to make sure employees are safe and mail delivery goes uninterrupted.
“The Postal Service wants to help the workforce understand more about the organization’s climate risk as they face the impacts of the changing climate firsthand,” said Jennifer Beiro-Réveillé, Environmental Affairs and Corporate Sustainability senior director.
Employees can go to usps.com/green to learn more.
This is the first in a series of three articles detailing the Postal Service’s efforts to address climate change.