Canada announces new climate adaptation strategy today with $1 billion commitment: sources

Canada’s first Climate Adaptation Strategy, released today, promises the federal government new construction guidelines and standards in flood- and wildfire-prone areas.

Environment and Climate Change Canada unveils a strategy that took almost two years to develop in Prince Edward Island, one of the Atlantic provinces hit by Hurricane Fiona in September.

This strategy aims to ensure that Canada’s economy and people are prepared to deal with the worst impacts of climate change. The strategy document contains the goals, but the purpose of the overview document is to set the stage for the more detailed implementation plan that will be developed later.

The government is set to announce more than $1 billion in new funding commitments for climate change mitigation on Thursday, according to senior federal sources with knowledge of the strategy, who were not authorized to speak.

The funds needed from the public and private sectors to address the impacts of climate change in Canada are: Estimated $5.3 billion annuallyaccording to the Canadian Insurance Authority, a trade association representing the industry.

Another source said the government will commit to building to climate-resilient building codes. Expect new targets to mitigate the effects of floods, wildfires and severe heat domes. In 2021, a BC summer heat wave killed more than 600 of her.

Efforts to protect and expand forests and wetlands have been shown to reduce emissions and minimize the impact of floods and heatwaves on urban populations. Governments are expected to prioritize investments in these nature-based climate solutions.

Climate change is already having a devastating effect on Canadians. In June 2021, western Canada experienced a historic heat dome, with a record temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius in Lytton, British Columbia.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeau called September’s Hurricane Fiona “the most severe hurricane in Canadian history. I have never seen anything like it.”

“Lives have been lost. This is due to climate change,” he added.

Economic analysis shows that even if the world does not exceed the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the impacts of climate change will be severe. A warming of at least 2.5 degrees is the level considered catastrophic by scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ”

The Canadian Climate Institute estimates that the impacts of climate change could reduce economic growth by $25 billion annually by 2025. Recently, a congressional budget official estimated that Canada’s real GDP would take a hit of 5.8% in 2100, even if the world delivered on its commitments to cut emissions.