Al Douglas, Director of the Ontario Centre for Climate Impact and Adaptation Resources (OCCIAR) at MIRARCO, a Laurentian University research centre, will hold a seat on Canada’s new Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Results.
Climate change is already having negative impacts and posing significant risks to communities, the private sector, and the environment. Recognizing this reality, actions are already being taken by governments, businesses and individuals to adapt to climate impacts.
“It’s important for our governments to know if the actions they’re taking to build resiliency and adapt to climate change are effective,” explained Al Douglas. “We need to know if the things were are doing are the right things, if they’re working, and if they’re cost-effective.”
The new Expert Panel will report to Dr. Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, in the spring of 2018. The report is expected to outline indicators that will help Canada measure progress on adaptation and resiliency throughout Canada.
“First Nations, communities and many critical economic sectors in Ontario face significant climate change related challenges, and opportunities,” emphasized Al. “I believe the work of this Panel can play an important role in shaping how we, collectively, adapt to climate change.”
Quick Facts
These examples highlight the impacts and adaptation already taking place within Ontario. With increasing investments being put into climate change adaptation, there is strong interest in monitoring progress and evaluating effectiveness of adaptation in order to gauge whether vulnerabilities and risks are being reduced. The Expert Panel will help to develop indicators to help Canada, and Ontario, measure progress on adaptation and resiliency.
- Climate change is resulting in more extreme weather events with unparalleled damage. On July 13, 2013 the City of Toronto received 126mm of rain in only two hours, causing over $1B in damages. To date, this is the most expensive natural disaster in Ontario. In order to increase resilience, Toronto has undertaken vulnerability assessments and is working to update their stormwater infrastructure.
- Since 1948, Ontario has experienced a 1.5°C rise in annual average temperature and is experiencing more days over 30°C. Extreme heat events can cause significant injury and illness, including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and sometimes death. Many Ontario communities are taking action by developing Heat Alerts Response Systems (HARS) and opening cooling centres on extremely hot days to help protect against heat-related illnesses (e.g. Toronto, Windsor).
- Forest fires are a significant danger to Ontario communities. In July of 2011, approximately 120 forest fires were reported in northern Ontario during a 17-day period. These fires caused the evacuation of 3,292 First Nations people from 8 communities due to smoke inhalation, food shortages and a lack of food storage capacity. Individuals are encouraged to download FireSmart, a manual that provides planning tools to mitigate the risk of fire.
- In Ontario, winter activities (e.g. ice-fishing, snowmobiling) have been affected by warming winter temperatures and more variable weather patterns. To account for this, Blue Mountain Ski Resort has diversified their business strategy to accommodate year-round activities and has invested in snow-making equipment to supplement natural snowfall.
- The Government of Ontario will be releasing a plan for adapting to climate change and becoming more resilient in 2017. It will build on the last provincial adaptation strategy and plan, Climate Ready: Ontario’s Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan 2011-2014.
About OCCIAR
The Ontario Centre for Climate Impacts and Adaptation Resources (OCCIAR) is a resource hub for climate change impacts and adaptation based at MIRARCO, a Laurentian University research centre, in Sudbury, Ontario. With over 16 years of experience in all sectors of society and the economy, we are leaders in the field of climate change adaptation. Our aim is to inform and facilitate the adaptation process, helping to ensure that decisions made today are informed by tomorrow’s climate challenges. We accomplish this by developing and implementing the resources and tools that communities, professionals and experts from all fields require in their decision-making processes. We communicate the latest research on climate change impacts and adaptation, and we foster the critical conversations within and across communities and sectors that help build resilience.
About the Expert Panel
The Expert Panel will advise the Government of Canada on measuring progress on adaptation and climate resilience to better understand how federal, provincial, and territorial adaptation efforts are building Canada’s resilience to climate change, for instance, by providing up-to-date climate information, supporting climate-smart infrastructure, and updating building codes.
The panel will also support the federal government in better communicating to Canadians how we are preparing for and adapting to the current and future impacts of climate change.
The Expert Panel will support the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which is Canada’s plan to meet our greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, build resilience to the impacts of climate change, and create clean growth and jobs through investments in clean technology, innovation, and infrastructure.
Dr. Blair Feltmate, Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, will chair the Expert Panel. The panel will also include academic, private sector, government, non-government, and Indigenous representation. The panel will engage with provinces and territories in its work.
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