Adapt-action:
Helping Alberta municipalities become
more resilient to climate change
Guy Greenaway
Miistakis Institute
Practical Adaptation Measures for Alberta Municipalities Workshop
March 5, 2015
Leduc, Alberta
Innovative Research | Engaged Communities | Healthy Landscapes
DEALING WITH
CLIMATE
CHANGE
… HEADS IN
THE SAND!
Innovative Research | Engaged Communities | Healthy Landscapes
THE DILEMMA
Climate change is global …
… and overwhelming
for a person or local
community
Innovative Research | Engaged Communities | Healthy Landscapes
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
Climate Change
Mitigation
We need to reduce emissions
Climate Change
Adaptation
Climate change is already here
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
Climate Change
Mitigation
Inherently global
Climate Change
Adaptation
Inherently local
CLIMATE CHANGE “MITIGATION”
Climate Change
Mitigation
Home energy
Actions to limit the magnitude
and/or rate of long-term climate
change
Transportation
Energy generation
CLIMATE CHANGE “ADAPTATION”
Climate Change
Adaptation
Wildfire prevention
Actions that seek to reduce the
vulnerability of social and
biological systems to climate
change effects
Agricultural BMPs
Flood infrastructure
Develop essential knowledge and
tools to support the management of
Alberta's biodiversity in a
changing climate
Resilience-based
Adaptation
For Local
Communities
Support Alberta communities to better
understand climate-related risks and
adaptations in the context of
ecosystem services and biodiversity.
Sure!!
um … what do you mean by
community ..?
Resilience-based
Adaptation
For Local
Communities
and … um … what do you
mean by adaptation ..?
Developing the
Adapt-Action Tool for
Alberta Municipalities
Innovative Research | Engaged Communities | Healthy Landscapes
WHAT WE NEEDED:
THE DESIRED OUTCOME
THE DESIRED OUTCOME
Form:
A decision support system (DSS) to
• Raise awareness of the biodiversityrelated ecosystem services relied upon by
communities,
• Characterize potential adaptation
strategies that satisfy community goals in
a manner beneficial to biodiversity.
THE DESIRED OUTCOME
Challenges:
•
How do you make climate change
adaptation important to municipalities?
•
How do you make biodiversity
conservation a part of municipal climate
resilience?
•
How do you design a decision support
tool to help accomplish this?
WHAT WE DID:
THE JOURNEY
THE JOURNEY
Reports
• Review of existing tools
o
•
o
•
Review of Possible Tools for Local
Adaptation to Climate Change
Understanding ‘local’ adaptation
Proposed Action Planning Approach for Local
Adaptation to Climate Change in Alberta
Action Planning Process
o Climate Change Adaptation Action Plans Alberta Process Review
THE JOURNEY
Reports (cont.)
• Downscaling climate information
o
•
Downscaling Climate Data for Climate Change
Adaptation Action Planning in Alberta
Municipal policy review
o
•
Where Resilience Meets Policy: A Review of
Southern Alberta Municipal Policies for CCA
Strategy Insertion Points
Communications strategy
o
Making Resilience Matter: Communications
Strategy for the Local Adaptations Sub-project
THE JOURNEY
Reports (cont.)
•
•
•
Climate change implications
o Environmental Changes and Implications of
Climate Change for Rural Communities in the
Grassland Natural Region of Alberta
Ecosystem-based adaptation strategies
o The Role of EbA to Address Climate Change in
Southern Alberta
Adapt-action structure
o
•
Navigating with Narratives: Using a Narrative
Approach to Connect Climate Change
Implications and Adaptation Actions
Engagement strategy
o
A Blueprint for Engagement: Stakeholder
Engagement Strategy for the Adapt-action Tool
THE JOURNEY
Reports (cont.)
All reports available on project website:
www.biodiversityandclimate.abmi.ca
WHAT WE LEARNED:
THE LESSONS
LESSONS LEARNED
Adaptation ‘Action Planning’
•
•
Don’t need a “new” process
•
Municipal adaptation heavily focused on
‘hard’ approaches; need to blend hard and
soft approaches
•
Municipalities will view climate resilience from
a ‘risk management’ perspective
•
Policy insertion points exist (sustainability
plans, infrastructure plans, land use bylaws,
MDPs)
Missing pieces: local climate information, and
connections to implications
LESSONS LEARNED
Ecosystem-based Adaptation
(EbA)
Ecosystem
Services
•
Ecosystem services may be the best
paradigm for connecting biodiversity and
local adaptation
Convention
on Biologicaldecision
Diversitymaking
(CBD) defines EbA
•
as:
Degree to which ecological approaches
undertaken in action plans depends on who
“sustainable management, conservation and
doesofthem
restoration
ecosystems, as part of an overall
adaptation
strategy that takes
into account
theis
multiple
• Ecosystem-based
Adaptation
(EbA)
a
social, economic and cultural co-benefits for local
viable route for climate resilience
communities.“
•
•
•
No regrets / co-benefits
Better risk management
Cost effective
LESSONS LEARNED
Environmental Changes
Strategies
Local
Effects
–>Implications
Implications –> Strategies
•
What does this
look like in my
area?
What are the major
environmental
changes as a result
of climate change?
What are the effects
on the ecological
systems on which
we depend?
•
From environmental changes and effects to
local community implications to strategies
What strategies
and
Howpolicy
is thisconnections
an
can my
issue for my
“Implications”
municipality use?
community? is the point where
municipalities tend to engage
•
Strategies, EbA
Implications
for or ‘stories’ are the right
Issue
narratives
approaches, cases,
agriculture,
frame for municipal audiences:
policy connections,
infrastructure,
funding options.
•biodiversity,
Adaptinghuman
to Water Scarcity,
recreation
•health,
Adapting to Flood,
•
Adapting to Extreme Storm Events.
LESSONS LEARNED
Decision Support
•
Municipalities are concerned about costs,
admin
•
•
Much is already being done; celebrate that
•
Need to catalyze not prescribe; we can’t
provide the details of ever municipality’s
journey
•
Municipalities look to the provincial
government for funding, policy leadership,
and program support (and find all lacking)
A new tool would be of less use than a tool
which collected existing information
WHAT WE CREATED:
THE OUTPUT
THE OUTPUT
Environmental Changes
Adapt-action
Tool (adaptaction.ca)
Strategies
Local Implications
• Web-based, climate change adaptation
resource for southern Alberta municipalities
•
•
•
•
Temperature
Precipitation
Available moisture
Growing Degree
Days
• Stream flow / timing
• Glacial mass
• Wetlands
•
Allows
user to explore adaptation
issues of plans
• Climate-proof
• Agriculture
critical
concern
• Promote water• Infrastructure
••
moderate agriculture
Biodiversity
Gather
information that supports
• Improve water
• Human health
addressing
that
issue
retention
• Recreation
•
•
• Promote
water
Derive materials usable by
their community
•
Potential adaptation strategies
conservation
Shows each issue's
• Understand
hydrological system
• Causal environmental changes
• Plan / build climate• Community implications, proof infrastructure
THE OUTPUT - IMPLICATIONS
E.g., Implications for Agriculture
• Changes in crop yield
• Crop failures will increase due to later-season
drought
•
Lack of natural moisture may decrease amount
of arable land
•
Irrigated agriculture will be affected (less waterintensive agriculture will become more
favoured)
•
Canal systems will experience greater losses
due to evaporation
•
Conflicts may arise between agricultural and
other water users
THE OUTPUT - IMPLICATIONS
E.g., Implications for Agriculture (cont)
• Salinization will increase
• May be decreases in livestock feed
• May be decreases in stocking rates
• Invasive vegetative species may flourish
• Existing soil conservation practices may no
longer be adequate
•
Farm-based water storage (dugouts) will be
less effective
•
Crop disease rates may increase
THE OUTPUT - STRATEGIES
E.g., Climate-proofing municipal plans
• Update Sustainability Plans to reflect climate
change
•
Update Municipal Development Plans to reflect
climate change
•
Create land use zones for climate change
adaptation (water re-charge)
•
Plan transportation and other infrastructure in
less climate-affected areas
•
Adjust development approvals guidelines to
adapt to climate change
THE OUTPUT - STRATEGIES
E.g., Climate-proofing municipal plans
(cont)
• Promote protection of natural infrastructure
(policy in development, approvals and planning,
policies in infrastructure) (water scarcity)
•
Coordinate with integrated watershed
management plans
•
Undertake scenario planning for recreation
infrastructure
•
Undertake scenario planning for emergency
response
NEXT STEPS
Next Steps
• Finalizing the tool content
• User testing
• Beta-testing (Gamma? Delta?)
• Adapt-Action tool slated to be launched this
month (www.adaptaction.ca)
•
Launch with two issue narratives:
•
•
•
Adapting to Water Scarcity
Adapting to Flooding
Explore mechanisms for continued tool
expansion
Guy Greenaway
Phone:
Email:
Web:
Twitter:
403-440-8444
[email protected]
www.rockies.ca
@Miistakis