The message that emerges from the last United Nations conference on climate change is clear and clear: climate change is no longer tomorrow’s problem. They are happening today, with serious implications for our built environment, and it will only get worse before it gets better. We cannot continue to build infrastructure as we have always done. Ignoring this reality has a human and financial cost. The climate change adaptation strategy announced by the Government of Canada is an essential first step towards climate resilience. One need only look at the social and economic impact of the damage caused by the increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events on infrastructure to see this.
Draft reports for Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy recommend that all infrastructure systems be climate-resilient by 2050, with technical standards and a robust investment framework in place by 2030. There are hope of achieving these goals. On the other hand, it requires us to act without further delay and to invest significantly to find the best solutions.
Recent examples of the impacts of climate change abound across the country. the hurricane Fiona deprived thousands of homes and businesses of electricity for more than a week and the federal government is planning $1 billion just to cover the expected requests for financial assistance from the eastern provinces. The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the global average, the effects of thawing permafrost are driving houses and utility poles into the ground, and destroying vital walkways. There are also the wildfires in British Columbia which are dangerously close to communities, with 2021 ranking the third worst season on record, and the high cost of floods, which cost Montreal $ 17 million in spring 2019. .
The Climate Institute of Canada predicts that the financial impact of climate change will reach $5 billion per year by 2025, and $17.5 billion per year by 2050. Costs associated with flood damage roads and railways and power transmission and distribution infrastructure are all expected to reach billions of dollars per year.
How louder should the alarm signal be?
To guarantee the resilience of our infrastructures, we must design them differently. To do this, we must develop new innovative technologies and practices. We must also take into account the full life cycle of everything man-made, from buildings to sewers and water pipes, roads, bridges and power and communication networks, in order to ensure that our infrastructures also contribute to the mitigation of climate change by reducing their emissions as much as possible.
One of the ways to achieve this is to adopt circular economy strategies, which consist in optimizing the use of material and energy resources by producing infrastructures involving the sharing, rental, reuse, repair, refurbishment and recycling of existing materials for as long as possible. New infrastructure must not only be able to withstand weather and natural disasters, but it must also be thoughtfully manufactured.
For this solution to be effective, it is essential that stakeholders, the private sector, research institutions and public decision-makers work together to prepare for the future. Setting climate goals for 2030, 2050 and beyond is essential, but the reality is that we are already experiencing the impact of climate change and need to adapt.