The Map of Adaptation Actions houses a collection of climate change adaptation examples that are useful to decision-makers and those taking action on climate change adaptation. Explore examples from across Canada to see how communities and sectors are adapting to a changing climate. Use the filters to explore examples relevant to your context and learn more about approaches that could help inspire your own adaptation actions.
Check out some of the newest additions to the Map below and see how information from ClimateData.ca could be used in your own work.
In June 2019, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) launched the Costing Climate Impacts to Public Infrastructure project (CIPI) to analyze the costs that climate change impacts could impose on Ontario’s provincial and municipal infrastructure, and how those costs could impact the long-term budget outlook of the province.
Climate change presents a serious risk to Ontario’s public infrastructure and the impacts are projected to be increasingly costly through accelerated infrastructure deterioration, increased operating expenses and increased service disruptions. To complete the CIPI project, the FAO partnered with the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS) to provide regional climate projections needed for the costing analysis and the detailed engineering analysis conducted by WSP Canada.
Results from the first sectoral analysis on the costs to public buildings (released on December 7, 2021) estimate that climate change will add roughly $6 billion to the costs of maintaining public buildings and facilities in a state of good repair over the remainder of this decade (2022-2030). By the end of 2100, under the high emissions scenario (RCP8.5), additional cumulative maintenance costs could rise to $116 billion without intervention.
To further understand how climate information can be applied in buildings sector-related work explore the Buildings Module on ClimateData.ca.
Between 2017 and 2020 Electricity Canada undertook a Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) funded three-year project to develop climate adaptation planning guidelines for electricity companies in Canada. The effects of climate change and extreme weather are having direct and indirect impacts on Canada’s electricity infrastructure. Examples of direct impacts include ice accretion and lightning strikes on overhead conductors, wind damage, premature aging, and conductor sag and annealing. Indirect impacts include changes to vegetation management, ice road integrity, vector-borne disease, and supply chain issues, as well as precipitation overwhelming riverine and urban drainage systems, resulting in flooding. The electricity sector has recognized the risks that climate change poses and have begun to take action. Electricity Canada’s project serves to create a framework for risk-based adaptation planning that can be applied consistently across the sector. In 2019, Electricity Canada published a guidance resource that supports their members in the process of integrating adaptation planning and risk management and assessment. This framework can be adapted by users and can augment already existing enterprise risk management (ERM) processes.
For more information on variables that may be useful in work related to the electricity utility sector, click “Explore by Variable” on the ClimateData.ca homepage. Here you will find pertinent future climate projections for potential variables of interest such as minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation extremes (for example maximum 1-day total precipitation).
In 2020, the Municipality of South Huron, a rural community of about 10,000 people, developed South Huron’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to address the continued impact of climate change on the local weather, environment, and the entire community. Through extensive review of future climate projections, South Huron is anticipating a future climate that will include warming temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, a shift in seasonal changes and changes in the duration, frequency, and severity of extreme weather events. Since the adoption of the strategy, South Huron has been working towards the implementation of actions through continued municipal planning and community partnerships.
Click “Explore by Variable” on the ClimateData.ca homepage for future climate projections related to temperature and precipitation, which can be used to inform adaptation planning.
If you have examples of your own that you think would be a good fit on the Map of Adaptation Actions, please reach out to us using the Contact Us form on the website or email us directly at [email protected] We will be able to help you with next steps.