BOSTON—Mayor Martin J. Walsh and mayors from throughout the region have pledged to collaborate on ways to prepare the area for the impacts of future climate change.

The city of Boston and more than a dozen area municipalities signed the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Commitment on Wednesday that establishes a regional framework to prepare the region for climate change. The agreement was reached during the Metro Mayors Climate Preparedness Summit held at UMass Boston. The summit was the result of a call by Mayor Walsh in October 2014 to begin work on climate change preparedness on the second anniversary of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy to the Northeast. The event was hosted by the City of Boston and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's Metro Mayors Coalition.

“The Metro Boston region is a dense coastal area that is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” says Mayor Walsh. “Cities and towns in the Greater Boston area share environmental vulnerabilities, and a regional platform will ensure coordinated and complementary resiliency and climate action efforts. Thank you to my fellow mayors and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for your commitment to this cause. ”

The 14 members of the Metro Mayors Coalition signed the climate change agreement that calls for the municipalities to “take coordinated action on critical regional infrastructure and systems, and to develop best practices for local government, policy recommendations for state and federal partners, and funding and investment vehicles to meet the challenges of climate change.”

The participating municipalities also agree to share information, assessments, plans and identify crucial gaps; integrate climate change in policies and programs; coordinate preparedness action; identify regional priorities and opportunities for coordination and collaboration and acting on those opportunities.

“Neither the Atlantic Ocean nor the weather respects municipal boundaries,” says Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, chairman of the MMC. “The cities and towns of Metro Boston share built infrastructure and natural resources. If our region wants to mitigate the threat climate change and increase our resiliency, we also need to share common principles and work toward shared goals. This summit is a critical first step toward establishing those common principles and goals.”

The regional commitment to climate change also creates the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Task Force, which will meet approximately every two months to identify, evaluate and implement strategies for preparing the Metro Boston region for climate change, and to develop best practices for local government, make policy recommendations and set regional priorities based on the goals outlined at the summit, city officials state.

Members of the Metro Mayors Coalition include mayors from Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Melrose, Medford, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, Brookline, Winthrop and Braintree. In addition representatives of regional, state and federal agencies, including MassPort, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commonwealth's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, attended the summit.

“We will only be successful at tackling climate change if we do so together,” says Marc Draisen, executive director of the MAPC. “This issue is happening right here, right now, and we must approach it collaboratively if we want to make a difference.”