Prince Rupert city council approved a detailed to prepare the community for upcoming climate challenges.
Informed by future climate trends specific to the area, the plan will guide municipal decision-making on effectively adapting to predicted environmental changes.
鈥淎s a remote, northern region, our community has different things to think about when it comes to adapting to anticipated changes to our climate,鈥� said Mayor Herb Pond. 鈥淲e have been relatively shielded from climate-related events experienced in other areas of the province, but that may not always be the case.鈥�
Context
鈥淧rince Rupert is changing,鈥� said the adaptation plan. With the port expansion, the population is expected to grow significantly from 12,300 (2021 census) over the next decade.
This growth will bring increased demand for housing and more activity in the city. This plan could help protect the community by building resilience.
The project supports Canada鈥檚 National Adaptation Strategy, which requires coastal communities such as Prince Rupert to create an adaptation plan by 2027.
The analysis uses two scenarios to assess future risks for the city: RCP 4.5, a moderate scenario, and RCP 8.5, the worst-case scenario.
Hazards
鈥淭he threats to our area were threats from overall eco-region changes,鈥� said the city in a recent release.
The top three climate hazards in both RCP scenarios are eco-region changes, tsunamis, and wildfires. Eco-region changes reflect shifts in the natural environment, such as in plant and animal species, ecosystems, and climate patterns, that occur over time.
Additionally, risks such as flooding, extreme heat, and landslides could increase in severity, rising from a 鈥渕inimal鈥� threat to a 鈥渓ow鈥� threat over time.
Impacts
The analysis described how the above-mentioned concerns could have a real-life impact on residents.
Those include travel delays, disruptions to the water supply, changes in human-wildlife interactions, declines in public health, interruptions to essential services, a potential decrease in the local food supply, and possible logistical delays in the movement of goods and services to and from Kaien Island.
Adaptation actions
The strategy adopted by Prince Rupert outlines a future in which the city embraces and implements 23 actions to reduce climate risk.
These include developing a community food strategy to strengthen the local food supply against climate disruptions and focusing on improving food infrastructure, including production, processing, and commerce. An example is exploring the feasibility and coordination of local food and seafood processing.
To tackle travel delays, the city will concentrate on building resilient transportation infrastructure and emergency transit systems through four key actions: discouraging the use of personal vehicles during extreme weather, offering free transit during such conditions, providing shelter and shade at transit hubs, and adding shade to cycling and walking paths.
The plan also includes measures to protect wildlife and enhance the urban ecosystem. It will develop an Urban Forest Strategy, implement a biodiversity education program, and promote voluntary reporting of animal sightings to minimize human-wildlife conflicts.
Three key adaptation actions are highlighted for long-term water asset planning, emphasizing climate resilience. These actions include regularly reviewing and updating the Emergency Water Plan, implementing a Stormwater Management Bylaw, and replacing culverts to enhance future resilience.
Five adaptation efforts focusing on temporary shelter, emergency preparedness for households and communities, and adopting climate resilience retrofits would enhance human health and well-being. These activities include compiling a list of emergency shelters, educating the public on household and building preparedness for extreme weather, establishing community climate standards, and reviewing the building bylaw to integrate climate considerations into site planning.
Six ways the city would manage the decline in access to essential services are focusing on improving household adaptability, building partnerships to strengthen trust with vulnerable populations, enhancing emergency support services, and ensuring better energy and telecommunications during emergencies.
It would achieve those by better coordinating emergency telecommunications, regularly updating the Emergency Communications Strategy, partnering with trusted organizations to support vulnerable populations, participating in the BC Evacuee Registration and Assistance tool, advocating for better insurance coverage for extreme weather events, and continuing best practices in community backup power generation.
Future steps
After five years, the city will reevaluate how many adaptation steps it was able to implement successfully. It will re-assess the hazards and their intensity with the most recent climate data available at that time.
Sustainability Solutions Group developed this adjustment plan in close collaboration with local residents, community groups, environmental non-profits, emergency services, businesses, and Indigenous organizations. Public engagement played a crucial role in shaping the plan, with numerous stakeholders contributing their perspectives and priorities through surveys and feedback, the city said.
The plan complements the city鈥檚 existing Community Energy and Emissions Plan, adopted in 2017. While the energy plan focuses on reducing emissions from municipal activities, the new adaptation plan takes a broader approach, addressing the full scope of climate impacts on local infrastructure, services, and residents.
The Union of BC Municipalities funded this project entirely through the Disaster Risk Reduction Climate Adaptation stream, part of their Community Emergency Preparedness Fund.