Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
As a geoscientist watching hurricane Fiona, I couldn’t escape a feeling of inevitability, seeing the impacts on the coastal areas of Atlantic Canada. Changing flood and erosion impacts on Canada's east coast were recently documented in the publication “Rising Seas and Shifting Sands”, supported by the Standards Council of Canada and the National Research Council, bringing together 60 subject-matter experts across the country.
The risks outlined include, as Vincent mentioned, coastal storm surge, often with high wind and heavy rainfall, as well as changing sea ice conditions, relative sea-level rise and coastal erosion.
The urgent challenge is to adapt to these more extreme and changing conditions.
I was encouraged by Friday's testimony from ministers, particularly the strong message from several parties that climate change is real. There was also discussion of moving people and infrastructure out of harm's way, which echoed comments made in October by Minister Guilbeault of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
There are four key approaches to coastal adaptation. Our focus has historically been protection, for which we can use both natural and grey infrastructure solutions. We can also use avoidance by preventing development in areas of high risk. We can also look at retreat, pulling back infrastructure from areas, including homes, as referenced by Minister Bragg last Friday. We can also accommodate the risks; that is, live better with them. For example, even if areas are flooded, they may not be significantly damaged.
Selecting an approach requires us to understand the natural system so that we can work with, rather than against, natural processes where possible. In some cases, existing infrastructure, such as wharves or sea walls, is actually exacerbating climate change impacts, for example by stopping sediment moving along the coast or moving inland as sea levels rise. Other infrastructure, including housing, is in areas of high risk, where it does not necessarily make socio-economic sense to rebuild or defend.
In short, we need investment in coastal management that weighs long-term costs and benefits, as we discussed with Infrastructure Canada while developing input to the national adaptation strategy. There is specific opportunity to combine natural and grey infrastructure solutions to reduce risk while delivering multiple benefits and improving people's lives in our coastal communities.
Recovery is not just about building back quickly or building back higher or bigger. We need to build back better to maximize the return on our investment in social, natural and economic terms.