Project room

Nature-based solutions, in particular, have a vital role to play in managing coastal flood and erosion risk in Canada. International experience and guidance demonstrate that these measures not only provide protection against coastal flooding and erosion, they also deliver multiple benefits, including improved biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, enhanced wellbeing and opportunities for recreational activities.

Three courses of action are recommended to scale-up the use of nature-based solutions for coastal protection in Canada: • Develop national standards to support consistent evaluation of the benefits of nature-based solutions when comparing infrastructure options, including for coastal protection. This should include minimum requirements, regional-specific standards, engagement with Indigenous people and recommended methodologies for reflecting the financial value of benefits provided by nature-based solutions.

• Develop national monitoring standards for coastal protection measures, focused on nature-based solutions. This should include combining Natural and Grey Infrastructure to Protect Canada’s coastal communities; consideration of minimum monitoring requirements, as well as how monitoring should be tailored to document performance against project-specific objectives (funding for longterm monitoring and engagement with Indigenous people could be considered as minimum monitoring requirements).

• Build capacity to finance and deliver nature-based solutions by engaging the private sector. Public private partnerships can potentially assist in financing, delivering, monitoring, and maintaining nature-based solutions. The insurance industry can also assist in managing construction risks and offering innovative insurance products that provide funds to restore natural features protecting the coastline, should they be damaged during extreme events.

The outcomes of these actions will help governments and other organizations make robust management decisions regarding coastal flooding and erosion along Canada’s coastlines.

Perhaps the greatest challenge in Canada, and globally, in preparing for climate change and sea-level rise along the coast, is a limited sense of urgency to act. For around the past 6,000 years, global sea-level has remained relatively steady.

This makes the recent, comparably rapid rise in sea-level caused by human-induced climate change less easy to grasp. Decision makers in Canada must realize, sooner rather than later, that the sea level of the past will not be the sea level of the future, and prepare coastal communities accordingly.

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1. Protecting the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 2) with Intertidal Reefs Town of Souris, PEI. 2. Beach nourishment project to combat shoreline erosion due to reduction in winter ice and increased severity of storm events, Gaspe QC. 3. Shoreline habitat restoration at New Brighton Park, Vancouver.

The Intact Centre: The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation is an applied research centre with a national focus within the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. The Intact Centre works with homeowners, communities, governments and businesses to identify, and reduce, the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. For additional information, visit: www.intactcentreclimateadaptation.ca

JOANNA EYQUEM P.GEO. ENV SP. CWEM. CENV., IS MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLIMATE-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE INTACT CENTRE ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION, FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLO. JOANNA.EYQUEM@UWATERLOO.CA