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Preparing together for climate change

Last updated on January 23, 2024

Preparing for climate change means improving our ability to respond to extreme weather events, like heat waves, wildfires, and flooding, and adapt to more gradual impacts, like water shortages, sea level rise and seasonal changes that impact food systems. With better understanding of climate risks, we can better prepare for the changes ahead and improve the resiliency of our communities. This process is called climate adaptation.

This section provides resources, tools, and information for local governments to learn more about understanding, preparing for, and adapting to climate change. 

Climate adaptation can be implemented alongside actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For resources on emissions and energy projects, visit our section on local government mitigation actions. 

On this page

Getting started

Effective climate change preparedness and adaptation is a broad responsibility and involves many roles across a local government:

  • Chief Administrative Officer/City manager
  • Facilities
  • Engineering
  • Public works
  • Planning
  • Finance
  • Asset management
  • Engagement and communication

Engaging with elected officials across departments is also important to ensure climate adaptation actions have support and can be implemented.

 

Funding

The BC Community Climate Funding Guide is an all-in-one resource with funding opportunities for climate action projects in your community, including emergency management and adaptation funding.

There are a variety of funding options available, including:

More opportunities can be found on the funding guide website.

 

Thinking about equity

The impacts of climate change in our province are not felt evenly across society. Climate change poses the greatest threat to people that face deep-rooted and systemic challenges.

Effective adaptation efforts need to consider how climate change impacts diverse populations in different ways. It’s important to consider an equity lens in climate change planning. One way to start is by including equity-based organizations in your community in the conversation around climate change adaptation efforts.

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Quick start actions

Getting started with climate change adaptation can be daunting. Here are a few quick start actions to implement while continuing to work on longer term plans:

  • Start with simple approaches such as encouraging use of rain gardens and community gardens, tree maintenance programs, establishing neighbourhood emergency response hubs and providing tips on how to prevent basement flooding.
  • Integrate a climate lens into decision making more generally so known climate impacts are considered in business planning, capital planning, and budgeting
  • Find win-win initiatives, such as promoting heat pumps that warm in the winter, cool in the summer and reduce emissions while saving on utility bills
  • Share resources, like this introductory brochure, with colleagues about why managing climate risks pays off
  • Collaborate with community groups such as schools or non-profit organizations
  • Consider hosting a public event to showcase actions of community groups or other recognition of their efforts to support adaptation. The Cougar Creek Streamkeepers are an example of these types of groups
  • Read about how to discuss climate change adaptation with colleagues (PDF, 67MB)
 

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Engagement for climate preparedness

Communities are unique and may experience climate change differently. At the same time, neighbouring communities can share common challenges. By engaging widely, communities can work together to develop better climate risk assessments and adaptation strategies, leading to more effective implementation of climate adaptation actions.

Local governments may not be able to directly implement all the actions that can build resilience in a community, but they play an important role in educating and supporting others to act.

Engaging residents, Indigenous nations, partners, and organizations and collaborating across regions can build capacity and collect valuable input for climate preparedness and adaptation.

 

Engaging internally

Depending on the type of engagement planned, you might involve your communications team, planners, engineers, finance, and public works. As decision-makers, engagement with elected officials is likely an essential step.

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Engaging with government partners and regions

Engagement with partners and across regions involves collaboration with Indigenous nations, other neighbouring communities, regional districts and different levels of government to explore shared interests and solutions. Regional collaboration can offer the extra benefit of additional resources as well as expertise on complex issues.

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Engaging with the public and partner groups

Public engagement will involve citizens and partners, including community organizations, decision-makers, non-governmental organizations, local businesses post-secondary institutions, and other leaders in your community.

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Case studies

 

Communication 

Communication about climate change is important not only for engaging with the public, but also for illustrating impacts to decision-makers. While there is no one-size-fits all approach to climate change communication, local government communications professionals can find information in the below resources.

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Understanding climate data

Climate has always impacted our communities. We have typically understood these impacts based on historical climate data and trends. As climate changes, we need to inform our decisions with forward-looking climate data projections to build the resilience of our communities to the climate of the future.

In general, for the 2050s and beyond in British Columbia, we can expect hotter, drier summers, wetter winters with less snow, and greater extremes in temperatures.

However, climatic changes (for example, extreme precipitation), hazards (for example, flooding), and their impacts (for example, washout of roads) are site specific, so each community will need to identify how climate is expected to change in their region to assess the impacts of these changes.

 

Navigating climate data resources

Developing climate projections is a complex science. Yet, there are user-friendly tools available to help understand how climate is expected to change in your area. As with any data set, climate data projections reflect some assumptions and have some limitations. It is important to use the tool that is appropriate based on the type of decision being made.

As a general guiding principle, climate projection tools are an excellent resource for building broad understanding of how climate will change in an area and informing preliminary planning decisions. Any decisions relying on specific numerical details of climate projections (for example, engineering design) should be informed by climate science expertise to ensure there is an understanding of the assumptions being made and limitations of the data.

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Climate projection tools:

Advanced tools:

 

Climate risk assessment

A climate risk assessment helps different regions to systematically chart out specific impacts that are expected from their area’s changing climate.

Undertaking a climate risk assessment will take effort and time and should involve multiple partners to ensure that various perspectives and impacts are considered. An example of such an impact could be that landslides are expected to be more common, impacting evacuation routes and transportation in and out of the area.

The impacts posed by climate change are a combination of the following:

  • Characteristics of the climate hazard itself (such as the magnitude and frequency of flooding)
  • Whether or not the hazard interacts with communities - people, infrastructure and ecological systems
  • Probability of the occurrence of such hazards under future climate conditions
  • Degree to which our communities and ecosystems are vulnerable, which depends in part on whether our communities are exposed to the hazard and the extent they can manage the effects
 

Local climate risk assessments

Climate risk assessments can be broad in scope (for example, community-wide), or more focused (for example, infrastructure risk assessment for existing systems or project-level risk assessments at the stage of project design) depending on what the risk information is meant to inform.

With information from the assessment, local governments and partners can make more informed decisions about what needs to be done to manage risks, where resources should be allocated, and how to prioritize actions.

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Local government examples: 

 

Provincial Preliminary Climate Risk Assessment

In 2019, the Province released the Preliminary Strategic Climate Risk Assessment for B.C. It evaluates the likelihood of 15 climate risk events that could occur in B.C. along with their health, social, economic and environmental consequences. This assessment, which will occur every five years, was done at a provincial scale, so the climate risks and consequences will be different for a local government.

 

Key action areas

The following sections provide information, resources and tools specific to key action areas over which local governments have authority and can act on.

 

Planning and land use

Local government planning can help build community sustainability and resilience. Planning and land use provides many opportunities to adapt to climate change.

Tools such as development permits, zoning, other bylaws, Official Community Plans (OCPs) and regional growth strategies can all help to manage increased risk to infrastructure and public health from a changing climate.

Planners also play a role in engaging with the public and across departments about climate change adaptation.

Examples addressing adaptation in planning and land use include:

  • Preserving natural environments that protect communities against hazards (natural assets)
  • Developing and implementing an adaptation strategy that addresses climate risks, such as increasing flood or wildfire risk, with adaptation measures and floodplain management
  • Controlling development in floodplains and interface areas at risk of wildfire
  • Reviewing bylaws to ensure they encourage and don’t restrict the use of community gardens and other forms of urban agriculture to encourage local food production
  • Preserving urban trees and their canopy to reduce heat island effects and provide shade

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Emergency services and management planning 

In B.C., local governments lead emergency planning, response and recovery efforts in their communities and are required by law to have emergency plans in place.

With increasing extreme weather events, it’s becoming critical to revise emergency management and response to also consider changing climate conditions and their impacts.

The province is modernizing its emergency management legislation and has committed to implementing the Sendai Framework, which recognizes climate change as a driver of disaster risk. Revising local emergency plans, while engaging broadly internally and externally, will also help to better mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from ever increasing climate-related disasters. Understanding climate data can help with these revisions to ensure risks are accurately understood and planned for. 

One assessment tool, the Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerability Analysis (HRVA), outlines a process to identify hazards that may cause an emergency and the potential consequences. Understanding this helps a community establish priorities, plans and strategies to prevent or reduce the risk from climate change.

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Asset management and finance

Climate change may affect critical infrastructure assets by reducing their service life, increasing maintenance costs and the risk of asset failure, reducing the level of service provided, and increasing the cost of managing risks.

Asset management is an integrated process undertaken by local governments in making informed decisions about where to most effectively and efficiently allocate resources to deliver services sustainably and manage risks. Considering climate impacts throughout the process is key to understanding infrastructure vulnerabilities as part of asset management planning and increasing community resilience.

Additionally, local government infrastructure must be adapted to changing conditions. Local government finance departments are critical partners in enabling adaptation. Finance can support with the development of funding strategies for adaptation initiatives using available tools and resources and can support developing plans for accessing additional funding where required (through grants, tax rate, or fee increases).

Those working in financial reporting and capital planning may also be involved in identifying and reporting on climate-related financial risks. The recommendations from the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures were initially developed for private sector organizations, however, public sector organizations and cities specifically are seeing value in adopting these recommendations to inform decision-making and reporting.

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Buildings

There are many ways that climate change can impact our buildings, including:

  • A warming climate and extreme heat resulting in occupant health and safety issues and risks to electrical components through overheating
  • Flooding, including sea level rise resulting in damage to buildings and building components
  • Wildfire and wildfire smoke leading to damage to buildings, disruption of service delivery, and causing health risks to building occupants
  • Extreme storms that may damage the external cladding or roofs and result in service delivery disruptions
  • Droughts that can lead to water shortages

With respect to their own corporate buildings, local governments can choose to build or renovate using resilient design measures that plan for the expected climate-related hazards in their region.

They can also support the resiliency of the community by encouraging specific practices or features in building design and construction through development permits for resilient building siting and landscaping, development cost charge reductions, waivers or fast-tracking permits. For example, through development permit areas for wildfire, local governments can regulate building form, exterior design and finish, often based on FireSmart principles. Local governments can also offer revitalization tax reductions for certain types of construction or retrofitting.

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Natural Assets and Infrastructure

Advancing Natural Infrastructure in Canada (2019) defines natural infrastructure as actively managed natural systems and resources such as plants, soil, forests and wetlands used to reduce the impacts of climate change and build resilience. Natural infrastructure includes engineered elements such as green roofs for storm water runoff and temperature regulation as well as natural assets like wetlands and living shorelines for flood control, forests providing clean air, and fire breaks to help prevent wildfires.

Natural assets tend to be more flexible, cost effective and easier to manage than built infrastructure under intensifying climate conditions. And they offer a variety of other benefits related to health and in providing ecosystems with more food, fibre, clean air and water.

Three basic principles for the cost-effective use of natural infrastructure for building climate resilience, put forward in Combatting Canada’s Rising Flood Costs are:

  • Retain the natural infrastructure you have
  • Restore natural infrastructure you have lost
  • Build what you must

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Water and waste management

Climate change can impact services for drinking water, stormwater management, sewage collection and treatment, and solid waste management. Areas prone to flooding and drought may face increased risks.

Drinking water services

Examples of climate impacts to drinking water services include:

  • Increased frequency and duration of drought leading to reduced reliability of water sources
  • Reduced source water quality due to impacts in the watershed such as wildfires, floods or invasive species
  • Increased water demands leading to system capacity issues and stress on water sources
  • Saltwater intrusion into aquifers and infrastructure damage from rising sea levels
  • Infrastructure damage from wildfires and flooding
  • Water-borne illnesses from increased flooding

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Wastewater and stormwater services

Climate change can affect stormwater services, through impacts on built infrastructure and natural assets as well as wastewater services, like sewage collection and treatment.

Taking a holistic approach by establishing long term, integrated strategies for stormwater management and the protection of natural watercourses can help communities to become more resilient and better protected. 

Examples of climate impacts on wastewater and stormwater services include:

  • Increased inflow and infiltration, leading to system capacity being more frequently exceeded and resulting in surface surcharging and beach closures
  • Changes to wastewater influent characteristics
  • Increased pressures on receiving water bodies requiring additional treatment before discharge
  • Buildings, tankage, and housed process equipment affected by flooding or sea level rise
  • Increased demands on constructed stormwater systems and natural assets such as creeks and streams, leading to flooding in some cases
  • Increased debris flow into culverts during extreme events, leading to blockages, flooding, and washouts
  • Increased erosion of watercourses and steep slopes during extreme rainfall events

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Solid waste services

Potential climate impacts on solid waste management services include:

  • Increased volume of leachate at waste management facilities during winter months due to increase in precipitation
  • Increased risk of flood to solid waste management infrastructure such as surface water ditching and management ponds
  • Increased volume of waste generated after a natural disaster such as flood or wildfire
  • Increased odour at transfer stations, compost facilities and landfill sites during warmer weather and potentially an increase in vector and wildlife attraction
  • Increased generation of organic waste from loss of crops and livestock, due to extreme heat events, flooding, early frosts and/or wildfires
  • Increased challenges moving materials to solid waste management sites (i.e. recycling facilities, landfills, compost facilities, transfer stations, etc.) due to climate impacts on transportation infrastructure (i.e. roadways being flooded or washed out, or highways closed due to wildfires)

The Environmental Management Act (section 24) requires that all regional districts prepare and submit a solid waste management plan to the provincial government. Full details on the requirements and process is outlined in the Guide to Solid Waste Management Planning (PDF, 1.7MB). In addition to the solid waste management plan, local governments may prepare liquid waste management plans for their jurisdictions.

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Transportation

Climate change impacts such as more frequent and intense precipitation events, temperature extremes and more variable freeze-thaw cycles are creating increasing challenges for transportation infrastructure.

Potential impacts on land transportation include:

  • Extreme weather events can create interruptions to transportation routes affecting public access and supply chains
  • Causeways, bridges, low-lying roads and dikes have a high potential of being inundated or damaged
  • Capacity of culverts and storm sewer systems more frequently exceeded, leading to road and pathway washout or flooding of tunnels
  • Soil/slope instability and ground movement, leading to road and trail damage from erosion, landslides, and embankment failure
  • Increased frequency/severity of thermal cracking, rutting, frost heave, and thaw weakening
  • Waterfront pathways and walkways can be vulnerable to inundation from wave action and sea level rise

Climate impacts are location-specific so communities will need to undertake climate risk assessments to determine potential implications.

Moving forward, applying a climate lens and designing for future climates during the project planning phase can help communities develop resilient transportation infrastructure.

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Public health and well-being

Climate change is not just an environmental and economic threat. It also has consequences for public health. Healthcare systems may be increasingly strained, increasing public costs and potentially limiting the ability to offer quality care to everyone. 

Local governments play a role in supporting public health by reducing the impacts of climate health hazards as they occur and tackling the factors that make people more vulnerable to climate health hazards.

Adapting to the health impacts of climate change can include:

  • Inviting participation from the health sector to provide community planners with climate change and health information for relevant policy in Official Community Plans and regional growth strategies
  • Addressing potential climate change health risks in emergency response planning, such as responses to extreme heat and wildfire smoke
  • Protecting and bolstering the resilience of recreation and active transportation infrastructure
  • Supporting healthy built environment initiatives and championing the co-benefits (e.g. improved community health) that climate change adaptation can generate
  • Considering an equity lens in adaptation planning

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Parks, recreation and culture

Climate change will likely have impacts on a community’s parks, recreation and cultural infrastructure and systems. Parks and recreation spaces are more vulnerable to flooding and inundation as they are often located near coastal, creek and low-lying areas. Warmer winter temperatures may reduce the availability of winter recreational activities and warmer summers may make outdoor recreation spaces less comfortable. Cultural events, like music, art and heritage festivals may also be impacted by hotter temperatures.

At the same time, parks and recreation present many opportunities to integrate adaptation, and can provide benefits like flood mitigation, emergency gathering spaces and shading during hotter summer months. It’s important to consider how to prepare these spaces for a changing climate and to consider them in climate adaptation strategies to capture their benefits.

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