What are Frontline Communities?
Frontline Communities are those that are hit first and worst by climate pollution and extreme weather.
Ensuring that New Mexico’s communities and institutions are future-proof means that we must identify and work to protect our most vulnerable populations.
These communities are at the forefront of extreme weather events, pollution exposure, and health and safety risks. Without the environmental, social, or economic safeguards of other populations, frontline communities experience the most extreme version of the same environmental challenges we all feel, but for them, the effects are multiplied.
What are your thoughts on the map above? Let us know!
This initiative seeks public feedback on how to define, identify, and engage frontline communities. Interested in helping shape a local data set for Central New Mexico? Tell us how this map could more accurately represent frontline communities.
Defining Frontline Communities
One of the historical challenges in assisting Frontline communities is defining and identifying them. Thankfully, national agencies have completed extensive research and created tools to help local governments identify and prioritize these communities, including developing maps such as Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool.
While specific methods vary, factors that inform the definitions of frontline communities can include:
Communities near major pollution sources, Sites of sensitive land uses such as schools, daycare facilities, and senior centers, Areas with high exposure to extreme weather risks, Communities of color and Indigenous communities (majority non-white areas), Communities with low wealth and very low income, Unemployed individuals, Unhoused or curbside communities, People with low educational attainment, Low-income renters, Residents of older buildings, Areas without adequate tree cover or open space, Youth, Currently or previously incarcerated individuals, People with Limited English Proficiency/linguistic isolation, Transit-dependent individuals, Areas without adequate affordable and accessible public transit options, Outdoor workers and day laborers, Undocumented immigrants and refugees, Seniors (Elderly), Single-parent families, People with pre-existing health conditions, People with mental health issues, People with disabilities or limited mobility.
Other government bodies have built on these ideas and methods to incorporate local data on frontline communities and combine this with climate risk mapping. By doing so, local governments can better serve frontline communities through planning efforts and resource allocation. Examples of this include the City of Richmond’s RRVAgreen 2025 Climate Equity Index, Asheville’s Climate Justice Data Map, San Francisco’s Environmental Justice Communities, the City of Longmont’s Climate Risk Mapping Tool, and the District of Columbia’s Racial Equity Dashboard.