Context and Mandate
In 2020 and 2021, the CCG team developed the first climate change adaptation plan 2022-2030 for Candiac municipality as part of the Quebec government’s Program to Support the Integration of Adaptation to Climate Change in Municipal Planning (PIACC). Upstream, the municipality had equipped itself, since 2018, to analyze the climate issues of all the activities of its municipal administration and thus integrate them into its decision-making. Its 2018-2023 strategic plan, “Moving Forward,” supports its commitment to addressing climate change.
At the same time, the municipality began its accompaniment to complete its GHG emissions inventory for 2018. These activities reflect the commitments made by the municipality as a member of the “Partners for Climate Protection (PCP)” and the “Municipal Climate Platform” programs of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UQM).
Approach
The approach, required by the PIACC, corresponds to the civil security risk management proposed by the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec (MSP). This methodology, based on a risk assessment, was enhanced by a vulnerability assessment approach (sensitivity and adaptive capacity) proposed by other scientific actors in the field of adaptation, such as Ouranos and ICLEI.
Candiac adaptation planning journey was broken down into four steps:
- Assessment of the impacts of the current climate on the municipality;
- Assessment of anticipated impacts and analysis of vulnerabilities in relation to the various climate change scenarios on citizens and the municipality (inclusive and collaborative component of the process through two online public workshops);
- Risk assessment and prioritization of risk management options;
- Production of the climate change adaptation plan.
The implementation and monitoring of the adaptation plan are the biggest challenges in building climate resilience, as they require that the strategies developed in the planning effort are both funded, supported by the community and integrated into the day-to-day operations of the municipality.
Key results
This adaptive approach has multiple benefits for the Candiac community. In addition to having a tool to analyze climate risks and make informed decisions, the municipality has also:
- Increased the level of understanding of municipal employees about the impacts of climate change through an information capsule viewed by more than 80 municipal employees;
- Committed to making smart investments, including natural environment enhancement and green infrastructure;
- Strengthened its strategic framework to address climate change.
Conclusion,
CCG is proud to have contributed, in collaboration with Candiac and its citizens, to the creation of a more resilient community through the implementation of an adaptation plan. This 10-year plan, published on the city website, will have a lasting impact on the quality of life of the Candiac community and help protect what is most important to them. Over time, the implementation and monitoring of the plan will permanently build community resilience while developing local adaptive capacity that will help Candiac to better manage extreme climate events in the future.
