Adapting to Climate Change: Canada’s Infrastructure Challenge

James GeuzebroekManager, Media Relations

Insurance Bureau of Canada

Alberta Emergency Management Agency 2008 SummitOctober 29, 2008 -- Leduc

Who is IBC?

Trade association representing Canada’s private home, car and business insurance companies

Over 200 Companies $20 billion in claims paid108,000 employees$36 billion in premiums

Role of Insurance

Protects assets against sudden and unforeseen events

Spreads the financial risk Makes it possible to:

Drive to work Build or buy a home Start-up a new business

Our Greatest Challenge:Climate Change

More severe weather occurring more frequently

Affects insurance availability and affordability

Natural Disasters are Costly

Models for Predicting Weather Outdated

Saint John River in New Brunswick: Three 100-year events in past 35 years

Greater Toronto Area: Three 100-year events and five 50-year events

in past 10 years

Examples of Canadian Weather-related Events

Insured Losses:

Quebec Ice Storm (1998) $1.6 billion

Toronto Rainstorm (2005) $500 million

Saguenay Floods (1996) $207 million

Peterborough Floods (2004) $90 million

Infrastructure Failure to Blame

Infrastructure failure responsible for most of the damage:

Ice Storm (electric grid) GTA Rainstorm (sewer/surface water systems) Saguenay Floods (dams) Peterborough Floods (sewer/surface water

systems)

Aging Infrastructure Contributes to Vulnerability

The Challenge: Not Every Natural Event Needs to Result in

Disaster

We must take action now to: Reinforce/improve infrastructure, in particular

our sewer and surface water infrastructure Improve building codes; employ climatic

design values Revise land use Improve disaster management

How to Fund Adaptation

Nurture open dialogue Understand the complexities and realities Beware of the “do nothing” approach Privatization/Public-Private Partnership

How do we engage consumers?

Insurance as incentives Educate individual homeowners Raise awareness

The Example of the Rain Barrel

Reduces water usage and provides water for garden

Helps manage surface water run-off Keeps surface water out of the basement Limits and delays amount of surface water in

municipal sewers during rainstorms

14

RAIN BARREL

GALLONS

1

45

15

RAIN BARREL

GALLONS

1

45

000

000

S

16

17

2.5 MILLION GALLONS

55000 RAIN BARRELS

18

In Conclusion – sort of

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful.” Lau Tzu

Emergency Response

C.A.M.P