(Montreal) Faced with the “irreversible” rise in water levels and the increase in storms threatening shorelines and municipalities, a group of experts calls on Canada to better plan the protection of its coasts and to include solutions based on nature.
The University of Waterloo’s Intact Center for Climate Adaptation (CIAC) on Thursday released a guide outlining actions to protect coastal areas in the east and west from flooding and erosion “as the changes climatic conditions will make it more and more frequent and important ”.
In the east, the coastal communities include in particular the regions of Gaspé and Bas-Saint-Laurent as well as the Maritime provinces. In the west, these are the regions at the tip of British Columbia. It is estimated that over 4.7 million Canadians live within 10 km or less of the coast, or 13.5% of the total population.
The report, supported by the Standards Council of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada and Infrastructure Canada, speaks of an “urgent need to act” and “urges to prepare communities” before disaster strikes.
“What we have seen for six years is that we talk about climate adaptation when something is happening, but then we lose the momentum and we do not take action on the ground”, supports the CIAC’s Executive Director, Climate Resilient Infrastructure, Joanna Eyquem.
The report calls on Canada to develop strategic planning for the protection of coasts, as in England. It identified sustainable approaches to mitigate the risks of erosion and flooding over the next 20, 50 and 100 years.
“Without proper planning, intervening to reduce flooding or erosion in one location risks creating instability elsewhere on the coast and degrading ecosystems on which people depend,” said the Minister. guide.
“Work with nature”
It is also suggested that nature-based solutions be considered including, among other things, the restoration of salt marshes, the stabilization of dunes, the revegetation of cliffs or the recharging of beaches.
These options “improve biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, the well-being of populations and the offer of recreational activities”, it is emphasized.
However, natural measures remain underutilized in Canada, unlike “gray” solutions such as protective walls, storm barriers or dikes.
“A National Research Council study showed that there was a lack of confidence in these methods. The fact that there are few examples, it does not show the evidence that it works ”, indicates Mme Eyquem.
The Executive Director of the Standards Council of Canada, Chantal Guay, believes that we should try to “work with nature” rather than trying to “fight against” rivers and floods. An essential and necessary shift for sustainable development, according to her.
“I think this is the main message of the report which says that there are natural solutions that will allow us to use the wisdom of nature to develop works that will protect us and at the same time increase biodiversity,” for example ”, maintains Mme Guay.
The CIAC report cites different cases where natural solutions have been adopted, including in Percé, in the Gaspé. The municipality has opted for the rehabilitation of the coastal beach of Anse du Sud to resist the sea, instead of a concrete wall.
The Ouranos consortium had carried out a cost-benefit analysis which recommended the regeneration of the banks. This study made it possible “to consider both the cost of carrying out this measure and also the indirect impacts, in particular on the tourist vitality and the traffic of the village”, explains the team leader in socio-economic analyzes for the adaptation to climate change, Ursule Boyer-Villemaire.
By restoring access to the banks, the analysis predicted economic spinoffs of several tens of millions of dollars over the next 50 years.
According to Mme Boyer-Villemaire, developments based on nature have a positive impact on several levels: social, economic and environmental. “These are solutions which have multiple repercussions and which are difficult to quantify, but which appear more and more clearly to us. They all have an advantage in being considered as seriously as technological solutions, ”she argues.
To increase the use of green solutions, the report calls on Canada to adopt national standards setting out best practices and allowing their benefits to be taken into account. They could also be used to assess the performance of projects.
The CIAC also believes that the private sector could be involved in the deployment and financing of natural measures.
“Gray” solutions are still relevant, the report says. These and nature-based measures each have their good and bad sides, and can even be combined in some cases.
In addition to coastal protection, the guide also states that other approaches are possible in the face of rising sea levels. It may be necessary in some cases to relocate buildings and infrastructure or to accommodate facilities by raising, for example, houses.
“We are not going to reverse erosion and flooding. We have to manage our land use, ”says Mme Eyquem.