Responding to Climate Change

Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun in the Earth’s atmosphere. Elevated levels of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, can lead to changes in the climate. There is now broad consensus among scientists and politicians that to avoid the full effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, extreme heat and other problems, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced. Addressing climate change requires two complementary actions: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.

How We can Help Your Community

The CUI is engaged in Canada’s movement to advance market transformation for sustainable communities and to encourage the application and integration of energy and water conservation, and waste reduction into the decision-making process at the municipal level.  Around the world, an increasing number of communities are actively engaging in the process of disaster risk management and greenhouse gas planning. The approach taken by each community is varied according to their overall understanding of sustainability issues, planning capabilities and specific energy and greenhouse gas objectives. What is becoming evident is the importance of interconnecting corporate activities with those of the broader community to ensure that community climate change objectives are achieved, while ensuring that disaster risk management strategies are put into place.

Through the Canadian Urban Institute’s (CUI) work on matters related to climate change and energy for communities in Canada, and disaster risk management in international cities, we understand the importance and value of integrating greenhouse gas decision-making, with vulnerability assessments and adaptive capacity development. Although the role of climate change in an increased incidence of floods, deforestation due to fires and infestations is beginning to influence the work of those involved with disaster response planning, there remains a large practical gap between addressing greenhouse gas reduction and linking it to day-to-day economic activity and a host of forward-planning processes for risk management.

Our Approach

Work with the Community – The CUI approach to climate change adaptation planning is founded on the importance of working with community stakeholders who have a direct need and requirement to ensure that a climate change plan will address the vulnerabilities of a city, while also offering pragmatic, practical, and economically feasible actions to adapt and mitigate.

Integrated  Systems Approach to Risk Management – Each of the associated hazards with climate change have direct and compounding impacts on various types of infrastructure: including built systems, natural systems and human systems. At the CUI, we believe that the starting place for climate change and greenhouse gas reduction strategies at the community or corporate level commence with a vulnerability assessment of infrastructure (built, human and natural systems) relative to weather-related events.  Understanding the level of vulnerability contributes directly to better decision-making and policy development by providing a solid basis for establishing priorities.

Firm Base of Knowledge – We believe that to make effective decisions that actively address greenhouse gas reduction opportunities, clearly defining the key principles and attributes that a plan should achieve for ease of benchmarking and municipal corporate reporting is critical. A successful greenhouse plan should provide the necessary information for effective decisions; identify measurable programs that offer quick-wins and are balanced against short and long-term paybacks; and, provide a positive approach to institutionalizing mitigation and adaptation strategies into daily decision-making by businesses and local government.

The map below identifies the potential impact of climate change for communities across Canada.

Contact us to learn more about conservation and climate change mitigation

Please contact Glenn Miller, Vice President, Education and Research, for more information.

Return to CUI's Sustainability Practice.