Adaptation is Resilience: Assessing Physical Climate Risk in Canada’s Provinces and Municipalities

We collaborated with our partners at Concordia University and the Emerging Risks Information Center (ERIC) to assess physical climate risk across Canada's provinces and municipalities, particularly their exposure to and preparedness for natural disasters. This abridged version of our study highlights key research findings and conclusions.

"Increased, targeted investment in climate adaptation—strategies aimed at adjusting to the effects of long-term climate change—could go a long way toward easing the economic burden and human suffering wrought by natural disasters in Canada."

Key Takeaways:

• Canada has in recent years witnessed a notable uptick in the number and ferocity of natural disasters, which have inflicted substantial economic and non-economic harm throughout the country.
• We believe Canada has a pressing need to build greater climate resilience, including effective adaptation strategies at the provincial and municipal levels, to help safeguard the country's future.
• As one potential solution, we developed a natural disaster preparedness index using a proprietary, research-driven framework and found varying degrees of readiness across Canadian provinces and municipalities.
• Among other possible investment implications, we believe judicious use of the natural disaster preparedness index can help guide investors’ asset allocation, risk management, and stewardship decisions.

Our white paper, authored in collaboration with our partners at Concordia and ERIC, expands on the points outlined above.

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