Climate change adaptation and Canadian infrastructure

IISD REPORT NOVEMB©ER 2 2001133 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Climate Change Adaptation and Canadian Infrastructure A review of the literature 3 FIGURE 1: DEFINITION OF CLIMATE RISK Source: Authors The exposure and the vulnerability of infrastructure systems to climate hazards are understood as follows: • A. climate hazard refers to a climatic event with the potential to [...] The vulnerability of particular infrastructures depends on the sensitivity of infrastructures to climate risk (i.e., the predisposition of infrastructures to be affected due to at least three factors: the age, the composition and the design of infrastructure) and the capacity of the sector to adapt (adaptive capacity) by minimizing negative impacts and/or maximizing positive ones. [...] IISD REPORT NOVEMB©ER 2 2001133 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Climate Change Adaptation and Canadian Infrastructure A review of the literature 5 2.0 Climate Impacts and Risks for Key Infrastructures This section describes the current and future potential consequences of climate hazards on infrastructure in Canada in the context of climate variability and change. [...] IISD REPORT NOVEMB©ER 2 2001133 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Climate Change Adaptation and Canadian Infrastructure A review of the literature 6 In addition, the role of non-climatic factors and interdependencies within the infrastructure sector further increase the complexity of the relationship between infrastructure and climate in Canada as elsewhere in the world. [...] IISD REPORT NOVEMB©ER 2 2001133 The International Institute for Sustainable Development Climate Change Adaptation and Canadian Infrastructure A review of the literature 9 One of the greatest climate change concerns regarding northern infrastructure is the thawing of permafrost (Government of the Northwest Territories [NWT], 2008).