Why is climate adaptation so difficult for Canada? |
Despite increasingly severe wildfires, floods and extreme heat events, climate adaptation in Canada remains marginal to federal and provincial governments.
Catastrophic weather events, increasingly fueled by climate change, are already causing serious harm: lives lost, rising health risks, surging insurance premiums and widespread property damage. Yet, Canada spends more than ever on disaster recovery while systematically underinvesting in adaptation to reduce those losses.
There are four institutional barriers to adaptation in Canada: short-term crises and major shocks dominating policy; misleading economic narratives; serious flaws in government budgets; and the failure to value and account for natural assets.
We recommend several initiatives to address these obstacles, starting with making adaptation a core part of Canada’s nation-building strategy and creating a National Adaptation Office. Addressing the distorted picture in government budgets of adaptation’s costs and benefits, and adding accounting for and valuation of natural assets are also essential steps.
Crises and shocks crowd out long-term thinking
It is difficult for governments to prioritize long-term needs when acute crises and shocks occur, especially when these combine into a polycrisis.
The pandemic, followed by the surge in inflation and then interest rates, dominated the early 2020s. Seismic geopolitical shocks added to the polycrisis with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, large-scale attacks and two major wars in the Middle East, and the Trump 2.0 administration’s shocks in trade, defence, Canada-U.S. relations and other areas.
The urgency of these challenges meant short-term economic needs were prioritized over long-term thinking and strategy. Climate risk, despite its systemic, longstanding and compounding nature, received little attention at the federal and provincial levels — except during catastrophic weather events. Even then, governments’ focus faded quickly once their response to the emergency phase ended.
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Floods, fires and mudslides: The........