Executive Order 13653: Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change
President: Barack Obama
Directed agencies to manage climate risks, support state and local resilience and modernize federal programs and data.
Status: Revoked.
Is Executive Order 13653 still in effect? No. EO 13783 expressly revoked EO 13653 on March 28, 2017. Later climate-resilience directives did not expressly reinstate this order.
What does Executive Order 13653 do?
EO 13653 organized federal preparation for climate impacts already affecting infrastructure, natural resources, health and public services. Obama identified risks including heavy downpours, drought, wildfire, permafrost thaw and sea-level rise. The response was to adjust federal planning and program administration, develop practical climate information and cooperate with state, local and tribal governments rather than impose a new nationwide emissions cap. Signed order.
Agencies had to identify federal policies or funding practices that discouraged resilience or unintentionally increased vulnerability. They were to evaluate land and water programs, supply usable data and decision tools, and integrate climate risks into their own missions and operations. The order created an interagency preparedness council and a temporary task force of elected nonfederal leaders. These bodies replaced the older adaptation task force and were intended to link scientific assessment to investment and operational decisions. Signed order.
Before and after
Before the order
EO 13514 and the existing Climate Change Adaptation Task Force had already started coordinated agency planning. EO 13653 built on that work and specified a broader council, an outside advisory channel and deadlines for revising agency adaptation plans. It did not imply that federal climate science or every resilience program began on its signing date. Signed order.
After the order
Departments responsible for land, water and emergency management had nine months to assess changes needed in their policies, including a timeline for further action. Agency adaptation plans required a first update within 120 days. On November 17, 2014 the White House announced the nonfederal task force recommendations and Climate Resilience Toolkit. Trump then revoked EO 13653 in EO 13783 on March 28, 2017. Later climate directives arose under other orders; revocation of those later directives in 2025 did not restore this one. Signed order. Sources: Official task-force recommendations and toolkit announcement; EO 13783: express revocation; 2025 rescissions of later climate directives.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| All agency heads | Integrate climate risks into program investment and adaptation plans, identify barriers and report progress. | First plan update within 120 days; annual sustainability reporting and updates tied to National Climate Assessments. |
| CEQ Chair | Co-chair council and outside task force, oversee climate-data portal, coordinate land/water assessment and provide council support. | Land/water assessment within nine months; outside task-force recommendations within one year. |
| OSTP Director | Co-chair council and oversee Data.gov climate tools with CEQ and OMB. | During implementation; no separate fixed deadline. |
| Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism | Co-chair the preparedness council. | During council operation. |
| OMB Director | Review agency adaptation plans, assist land/water assessment and portal coordination, and participate in council. | First plan update within 120 days; land/water assessment within nine months. |
| White House Intergovernmental Affairs Director | Co-chair state, local and tribal leaders task force. | Recommendations within one year; task force sunsets within six months after recommendations. |
| EPA | Participate in land/water assessment, climate information tools and council. | Land/water assessment within nine months. |
| NOAA | Participate in land/water assessment and supply climate data and tools. | Land/water assessment within nine months. |
| FEMA | Participate in land/water assessment supporting resilience. | Within nine months. |
| Army Corps of Engineers | Participate in land/water assessment and preparedness council. | Assessment within nine months. |
| NASA | Develop resilience information and tools and participate in council. | During implementation. |
| U.S. Global Change Research Program | Support scientific research and interagency development of usable climate data and tools. | Ongoing under existing program authority. |
| Defense Department | Inventory land/water policy changes, develop resilience data and tools, serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Interior Department | Inventory land/water policy changes, develop resilience data and tools, serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Agriculture Department | Inventory land/water policy changes, develop resilience data and tools, serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Commerce Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Health and Human Services Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Housing and Urban Development Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Transportation Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Energy Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| Homeland Security Department | Develop resilience data and tools and serve on preparedness council. | Land/water assessment within nine months where assigned; other work continuing. |
| State Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Treasury Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Justice Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Labor Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Education Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Veterans Affairs Department | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| USAID | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| General Services Administration | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Millennium Challenge Corporation | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Small Business Administration | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Corporation for National and Community Service | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Council of Economic Advisers | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| National Economic Council | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Domestic Policy Council | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| White House Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Office | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| United States Trade Representative | Provide senior representative to preparedness council, assist its work and supply information within legal authority. | During council operation; agency bears its own participation expenses. |
| Federal Infrastructure Permitting Steering Committee | Account for climate risks in coordinated federal processes and assist agencies with resilient investment. | During program coordination. |
| Task Force on Ports | Account for climate risks in coordinated federal processes and assist agencies with resilient investment. | During program coordination. |
| Interagency Alaska Domestic Energy Development Working Group | Account for climate risks in coordinated federal processes and assist agencies with resilient investment. | During program coordination. |
| Federal Environmental Justice Working Group | Account for climate risks in coordinated federal processes and assist agencies with resilient investment. | During program coordination. |
What happened next
Obama signed the climate preparedness order. Official source
The White House announced the task-force recommendations and Climate Resilience Toolkit. Official source
EO 13783 expressly revoked EO 13653. Official source
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
This was an executive coordination order operating within existing statutory missions, appropriations and U.S. international obligations. It referred to the Global Change Research Act, whose research and assessment responsibilities existed independently, and to earlier infrastructure-permitting directives. It could not independently appropriate a resilience grant, amend a state's zoning law or exempt a project from required environmental review. Agencies had to integrate risk information into decisions they already had legal authority to make. The outside task force's recommendations were advisory: its one-year reporting requirement and sunset six months after submitting recommendations did not authorize it to issue binding rules. EO 13783's express revocation is the dispositive ending of this particular executive framework, even if individual data products or lawful agency programs continued under different authority. Signed order. Sources: Official task-force recommendations and toolkit announcement; EO 13783: express revocation; 2025 rescissions of later climate directives.
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Primary and official sources
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How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 23, 2026. How we research →