Adapt Now Canada

ReNew Magazine features CCAP

Michelle Madden — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 15:28:21 +0000

The November/December issue of ReNew Canada, a magazine focused on infrastructure, profiles CCAP and Partners for Action (a multi-sectoral initiative launched by the University of Waterloo and the Co-operators Group). The article is about how each group is tackling climate change adaptation, with a special focus on adapting urban infrastructure to reduce flooding.

CBC’s DocZone highlights the urgency to adapt to climate change

Michelle Madden — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:36:51 +0000

The documentary “Weather Gone Wild” was aired on CBC last Thursday night and it had a clear message: extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. The documentary relied heavily on CCAP Chair Blair Feltmate to provide proof of climate change impacts and to underline the urgent need for adaptation.

The documentary features weather-related issues and innovative solutions in Calgary, Toronto, New York, Miami and Rotterdam.

Watch the documentary now.

Canada lagging in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Michelle Madden — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:56:37 +0000

The Fall 2014 Report of Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner was not a flattering one for the Government of Canada. Julie Gelfand’s report showed that Canada will miss 2020 greenhouse gas emission targets and yet doesn’t have a plan for getting greenhouse gases under control. The Harper Government seems to be dragging its feet on regulating the oil and gas industry, the country’s worst emitter.

CCAP Chair Blair Feltmate discussed the report on CTV News Channel earlier today. Watch the video for his view on how Canada is doing.

Stephane Dion had it right with his carbon tax

Michelle Madden — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 18:33:12 +0000

It’s time for Canada to listen to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and set up a carbon tax. CCAP Director Jason Thistlethwaite told the Guelph Mercury in a recent article that Canada needs to be a leader in reducing greenhouse gases. The burden of taxes should be on carbon emitters instead of incomes or rural communities.

Canada needs national infrastructure adaptation initiative

Michelle Madden — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 17:53:56 +0000

At a seminar titled Catastrophic Loss: Fires, Floods, Explosions — What’s Next, Locusts? last week, CCAP Chair Blair Feltmate made the case for a national infrastructure adaptation program.

Urban infrastructure needs to be adapted so that water from extreme weather events can be absorbed into the earth, instead of flooding the streets. Until that happens, insured and uninsured losses will continue to rise as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of weather events.

The ‘winning conditions’ and priority areas for saving Canadian cities from flooding

Michelle Madden — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 19:21:29 +0000

The Co-operators Group and the University of Waterloo have been working together since 2013 to find ways to de-risk the Canadian residential property market from the increasingly negative impacts of overland flooding. The project, “Partners for Action: Priorities for Advancing Flood Resiliency in Canada” has involved property & casualty (P&C) insurers, government policymakers, flood risk experts, professional associations, businesses and the legal community. Through a survey and roundtable discussion, they identified the three winning conditions that must be established to ensure success in de-risking flood potential:

Canadians understand the risk that flooding presents to their homes, businesses and communities,
Canadian decision-makers use their understanding of flood risk to make sound adaptation decisions, and
Canadians have access to means to transfer the risks associated with flood damage that remains after they have engaged adaptation.

With these conditions in mind, the stakeholders identified three priority areas for moving forward. These represent the most urgent and feasible flood risk challenges to address:

Flood Plain Maps – develop new flood plain maps with projections that anticipate changes in the intensity and duration of future precipitation
Preparedness of Cities – conduct a national assessment of the degree of preparedness of major Canadian cities to extreme weather events, with a primary focus on flooding, and
Built Infrastructure – factor extreme weather/flood potential into new build design and retrofits

The next phase will start addressing the priority areas, with an initial emphasis on Point 2 – Preparedness of Cities – which is not being materially pursued by any level of government or organization within Canada.

Full report… [aesop_document type="pdf" src="/files/2014/09/Partners-for-Action-Flood-Report_EN_19September2014.pdf"]

Project Profiles Now Updated!

Michelle Madden — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 19:47:49 +0000

CCAP’s partners have been very busy for the last 6 months. Some projects–like Depave Paradise and the Leaders for Clean Water Program – Community Resilience Campaign–are well on their way, while others are just getting started. No matter what stage they’re in, every partner is working hard to keep things on track. Browse the profile pages below to see how each project is progressing…

Across Canada: Depave Paradise (5 cities)

Across Canada Workshop Series: Showcasing British Columbia’s “Water Balance Model Express for Landowners” (5 cities)

Alberta: RAIN Home Visits

British Columbia: Burrard Inlet Coastal Resilience

Nova Scotia: Coastal Rain Garden

Nova Scotia: Living Shorelines

Ontario: Alfred Kuehne Blvd Stream Naturalization

Ontario: Intact Bioretention System for Flood Risk Mitigation

Ontario: Leaders for Clean Water Program – Community Resilience Campaign

Ontario: Spring Creek Channel Restoration Project

Québec: Beloeil Retention Basin

Québec: Saint-Leonard Green Alley

How Will Climate Change Transform U.S. Cities?

Michelle Madden — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 14:16:43 +0000

A video from the Aspen Ideas Exchange sums up the impact of climate change on U.S. cities nicely. Their consensus: cities, especially coastal ones, will need to become resilient to sea level rise, extreme weather, and more severe droughts and flooding. We can’t afford to rebuild every time there is a climate-related disaster so adaptation is necessary to prevent economic drain and large scale migration.

Infographic: Green Infrastructure for Climate Resiliency

Michelle Madden — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 13:32:07 +0000

Canada Struggles with Melting Permafrost as Climate Warms

Michelle Madden — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 13:26:17 +0000

Scientific American reports that climate change is affecting economic activities in Canada. Some of these impacts are bad, like reduced access to northern resource extraction due to melting ice roads and increased sockeye salmon mortality rates. Others are beneficial, like improved maple syrup production, or changing, like electricity forecasts for hydropower due to shifts in water flow.

All of these examples are in the Natural Resources Canada’s third (and most recent) national climate change assessment. CCAP Chair Blair Feltmate was quoted in the article saying ”It’s not what’s in the report … it’s what’s not in the report,” referring to the report stopping short of providing solutions for industries and communities.

Read the full article