The Climate Change Sub-Cabinet’s efforts are organized into two broad themes. “Adaptation” includes those measures that can be taken to respond to the effects of climate change. “Mitigation” refers to measures to reduce Alaska’s greenhouse gas emissions and to address other sources and causes of climate change. See the Adaptation Advisory Group and the Mitigation Advisory Group pages for members, meeting information, and documents.

Over the course of the next year, the efforts of the Adaptation Advisory Group and the Mitigation Advisory Group will each be supported by the efforts of four or five technical work groups.

The Adaptation technical work groups are focusing on areas such as how to address present and future impacts on:

1. public infrastructure
2. health and culture
3. natural systems, and
4. economic activities

The Mitigation technical work groups will examine ways in which greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced through conservation, efficiency and technological advances. Technical work groups have been assembled around general greenhouse gas mitigation action categories:

1. oil and gas
2. energy supply and demand
3. transportation and land use
4. forestry, agriculture and waste, and
5. cross-cutting issues

The Adaptation and Mitigation advisory groups will meet bi-monthly while the technical work groups will meet monthly.

The advisory groups will assemble information from the technical work groups and deliver final recommendations to the Sub-Cabinet. The Sub-Cabinet, in turn, will evaluate the recommendations and submit a proposed Climate Change Strategy to the Governor. This should be completed within one year.

All meetings will be announced and are open to the public. The stakeholder process will commence in May 2008.

The efforts of the three existing work groups formed with a short-term focus (Immediate Actions, Alternative Energy, and Research) will continue as part of the new, longer-term organization. The Alternative Energy Workgroup members have been 'absorbed' into the Mitigation Advisory Group and its Technical Work Groups. The Immediate Action and Research Needs Workgroups are proposed to remain as entities under the Sub-Cabinet.

See the February 13, 2008 presentation by Brian Rogers, Information Insights, and Ken Colburn, Center for Climate Strategies, for additional information: Comprehensive, Stakeholder-based Climate Action Planning.