Search Climate Insights Directory

The document argues that current building codes often fail to account for climate change, leaving urban infrastructure vulnerable to increasing temperature variability and extreme weather. It advocates for the adoption of robust design protocols like PIEVC and CCHIP, the mitigation of the urban heat island (UHI) effect through strategic green space planning, and the use of resource-efficiency certifications such as LEED and the Living Building Challenge to create a more resilient urban fabric.

The document argues that strengthening local food systems increases resilience to climate-driven supply shocks. It recommends that cities protect agricultural land through zoning and greenbelts, embrace soil-free technologies like vertical farming, and promote redundancy through municipal composting and diversified water sources. It also suggests supporting the 'cottage food industry' and community food centres to enhance local resourcefulness and food security.

The document argues that proactive investment in climate resilience reduces long-term financial risks and liability costs for municipalities. It advocates for 'multiple-bottom-line' accounting and the valuation of ecosystem services (eco-asset accounting) to prioritize cost-effective natural infrastructure over expensive engineered solutions. The briefing details various financing mechanisms to enhance urban robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness, including green bonds, public-private partnerships, user fees, and the use of Alberta's carbon levy. It concludes with strategic recommendations to embed resilience into zoning, permitting, and planning processes.

The document argues that climate change increases risks to urban energy and ICT systems through extreme weather and shifting demand patterns. It proposes building resilience through three pillars: robustness (hardening infrastructure via protocols like PIEVC), redundancy (deploying decentralized renewable energy and diverse ICT channels), and resourcefulness (utilizing smart grid technology and emergency roaming). Specific recommendations include adopting the PIEVC protocol for new investments, implementing time-of-use pricing, and encouraging the use of distributed energy storage.

The document outlines how urban transportation infrastructure in Alberta is vulnerable to rising temperatures and extreme weather, such as flooding and heat waves. It argues that resilience can be achieved through 'robustness' (using tools like the PIEVC protocol and green infrastructure), 'redundancy' (diversifying transportation modes and fuel sources), and 'resourcefulness' (engaging citizens via mobile apps and supporting shared mobility). The briefing recommends that Calgary and Edmonton undertake full vulnerability assessments, promote compact urban forms, and implement multi-modal networks to mitigate climate risks.

The document argues that urban water and sanitation systems in Alberta face significant risks from increasing temperatures, precipitation shifts, and extreme weather events. To build resilience, it advocates for a 'multi-barrier' approach to robustness, the integration of redundancy through source water diversity and decentralized treatment, and the promotion of resourcefulness via low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure. Specific recommendations for Calgary and Edmonton include conducting stochastic hydrology analysis on source watersheds, reviewing regulatory obstacles to decentralized water technologies, and exploring economic instruments like stormwater levies and water trading systems.

The document distinguishes between incremental adaptation, which improves existing practices, and transformational adaptation, which involves systemic structural changes to address the root causes of vulnerability. It argues that as climate risks in Alberta increase—including rising temperatures and more variable precipitation—cities like Calgary and Edmonton may need to adopt transformational approaches to avoid unsustainable development paths. The text outlines qualities of a resilient city, such as flexibility and integration, and uses the Netherlands' Delta Programme as a case study of a proactive, systems-based approach to flood management. It concludes with strategic, regulatory, and community recommendations to enable transformational change.

The document examines how urban ecosystems and green infrastructure provide critical environmental, social, and economic services that protect cities from climate shocks. It highlights projected temperature increases in Alberta and advocates for a resilience framework based on robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness. The brief provides recommendations for municipal governments to integrate biodiversity into planning, use asset management for natural spaces, and engage citizens in environmental stewardship.

The document argues that Alberta's cities must move beyond historical climatic patterns to build resilience against more frequent and intense extreme weather events. It emphasizes integrating climate projections into emergency planning, investing in robust and redundant infrastructure, and fostering community resourcefulness through participatory engagement.

The report argues that an accelerated phase-out of coal power in Alberta would significantly reduce premature deaths, emergency room visits, and asthma episodes, while providing billions in socio-economic value. By extrapolating data from Environment Canada's Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS), the authors demonstrate that a stepwise transition proposed by the Pembina Institute would more than double the health benefits of the 2012 federal regulations between 2015 and 2035.

The report analyzes the landscape of cosmetic pesticide bans in Canada, evaluating the effectiveness of various provincial and municipal regulatory frameworks. It argues that the most protective laws utilize 'white lists' of approved low-risk pesticides, maintain a broad scope of coverage across all landscaping elements, and combine legal prohibitions with robust public education and enforcement. The document highlights significant gaps in jurisdictions like Alberta and British Columbia, while praising the comprehensive approaches of Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), along with Pesticide Free Alberta and Prevent Cancer Now, is requesting that the Federal Minister of Health intervene to stop the use of chlorpyrifos (specifically the products Pyrate and Dursban) for mosquito control in Edmonton. The organizations argue that the chemical is a "powerful developmental neurotoxicant" and that its federal re-evaluation has been "unacceptably prolonged". They suggest Vectobac as a safer bacteria-based alternative already used in cities like Grand Prairie.

The document advocates for the closure of Alberta's coal-fired power plants to meet national climate goals and reduce severe health impacts. It highlights that Alberta is Canada's most carbon-intensive province and that coal plants contribute significantly to air pollutants linked to premature deaths and hospitalizations. Using the Ontario coal phase-out as a successful precedent, the brief argues that similar action in Alberta would lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the economic and human cost of air pollution.

The document examines the socio-economic and health profile of First Nations people in Winnipeg and Manitoba, identifies gaps in data collection, and explores culturally relevant frameworks, such as the medicine wheel, for measuring community well-being and sustainability.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) advocates for Alberta municipalities to adopt bylaws restricting the cosmetic use of pesticides on lawns and gardens, noting that while 80% of Canadians live in communities with such protections, they are largely absent in Alberta cities like Calgary and Edmonton. The document highlights scientific links between pesticide exposure and serious health issues, including birth defects, low birth weights, learning disabilities, and motor development delays in children, as well as cancer and neurological impacts in adults. A 2016 CAPE poll indicated that over 60% of Albertans are concerned about these risks and support increased restrictions.

The document outlines the public health benefits of shifting from car-dependency to active transportation (walking and cycling) and public transit. It links these modes of travel to reductions in cardiovascular risk, improved mental health, and lower rates of traffic fatalities. Environmentally, it highlights the role of transit and active travel in reducing traffic-related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions to meet climate goals. Finally, it discusses how transit-supportive infrastructure reduces the financial burden of transportation for low-income individuals and improves access to essential health services.

The document outlines how climate mitigation strategies in Canada—such as phasing out coal, reducing building energy use, transitioning transportation, and shifting to plant-based diets—can simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve health outcomes by reducing air pollution and obesity.

Alberta faces significant economic risks due to its high concentration of workers and GDP tied to transition-vulnerable sectors, particularly oil and gas. While the province has established a foothold in low-carbon electricity, hydrogen, and CCUS, growth is hindered by mixed policy signals and a geographic mismatch between new opportunity companies in cities and vulnerable workers in rural areas.

The document analyzes Alberta's position in the global energy transition, highlighting a tension between emerging low-carbon investments and a continued reliance on the oil and gas sector. While the province shows strength in carbon-free electricity and industrial transition technologies, it faces significant risks due to workforce concentration in vulnerable sectors and contradictory political signals that may hinder large-scale decarbonization.

The document argues that while Canada has made progress in decarbonizing power supply, achieving net-zero requires Energy Systems Integration (ESI)—the coordination of energy systems across multiple pathways and scales. It examines five key ESI technologies (electric vehicles, heat pumps, demand response, distributed generation, and hydrogen) and finds that Canadian policy is currently too siloed, relying on voluntary 'soft' incentives rather than systemic market reforms or mandatory legislation. The author highlights significant gaps in information, governance, and implementation, suggesting that a holistic, pan-system approach to modelling and planning is essential to avoid sub-optimal infrastructure lock-in.