Thank you for inviting me to be with you today on behalf of Ouranos.
Ouranos is a regional climatology and climate change adaptation applied research consortium. It's a non-profit organization funded by the federal government, the Government of Quebec, municipal partners, Hydro‑Québec, Ontario Power Generation, Manitoba Hydro, Rio Tinto and a number of partner universities.
For the past 25 years, we have advanced the science of climate change and adaptation, which is learning to live with climate change and with new-normal weather patterns.
I have five messages for you.
First, the science is clear: Climate change is generating significant increases in the frequency, intensity, duration and scale of weather events and several types of extreme weather events in all parts of Canada. This trend will continue until global net zero is achieved. What this means is that there are two ways to address the problem. First, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Second, learn to live with the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Second, Canada is not prepared to deal with all of the climate change risks and repercussions, which are already very costly. You've probably already heard that insurable damages totalled $9.2 billion in 2024. That's about $270 per Canadian. In addition, the Canadian Climate Institute has already done a number of studies showing that GDP will be negatively affected in the coming years. Things are clearly getting worse. Several studies have shown that every dollar invested in proper adaptation mitigates impact and generates between $13 and $15 in benefits. In other words, investing in adaptation is a good idea.
Third, we must learn to better manage risks in the context of climate change. Dealing with extreme weather events is not just about getting better at managing disasters when they happen. It is about being proactive and taking preventive action through medium and long-term risk reduction and game-changing public policies. I got here a little early, so I heard people talk about things like land use planning to avoid building in risky areas, diversifying forest composition to reduce the risk of forest fires and building codes that take not just historical climate data into account, but also future climate projections. All of these things will help us deal with increased extreme weather events.
Fourth, adaptation and risk reduction are a shared responsibility. Everyone has a role to play: federal, provincial and municipal governments, the private sector, indigenous communities and, of course, individuals. However, individuals are not going to solve all the problems. Everyone has to work together. Climate change adaptation in any field can only happen when all stakeholders work together and share constructive leadership.
Fifth, the good news is that there's quite a bit of science available, but it is underutilized in making good decisions. There are a lot of tools out there, such as a building code that could be adapted and improved to deal with the extreme weather events we know are statistically likely to happen. We know these events are trending upward. In addition, people talked earlier about nature-based solutions, which are increasingly being implemented in Canada and may be helpful going forward. Canada also has a national adaptation strategy. It's not perfect, but it's a good starting point for future work on adaptation. There are also organizations across Canada, including Ouranos in Quebec, that make connections between data collected at the national level, public policies developed at the provincial level and concrete applications, which are often done at the municipal level. These organizations can play a role in better risk reduction in any field.
Earlier, people were talking about the new Build Canada Homes program. Will adaptation and resilience be part of that? Ouranos has raised this issue. These investments can create opportunities to include adaptation, but they can also strike out if they don't include enough adaptation for what's to come.
Thank you.