(CS3.4) Climate Change Adaptation Planning at the Parliamentary Precinct: Understanding impacts, identifying resilience strategies and enabling action

As the epicentre of Canadian democracy, the Parliamentary Precinct plays a important role in demonstrating the Government of Canada’s commitment to leadership in climate action. PSPC has taken major strides towards achieving and exceeding net-zero by 2050; now a greater emphasis is being placed on adaptation, to better understand and minimize the impacts of climate change on the portfolio assets.< br>< br>With a diverse portfolio comprising of natural landscape, new construction, designated heritage buildings and undesignated historic buildings, specific vulnerabilities to climate change and their criticalities are equally as diverse and varied. A holistic, comprehensive approach is required to understand the impacts of climate change at the asset level and effectively coordinate and plan for a portfolio-wide response that leverages the ongoing Long Term Vision and Plan of the Precinct. This presentation walks through the key motivators for proactive adaptation planning, the four phases of plan development, and the strategies employed to prioritize actions for implementation and monitor adaptation progress. Specific examples of resiliency measures for Precinct assets will be provided and their considerations discussed, including their effectiveness at addressing the identified risks, and how their implementation supports the advancement of other initiatives such as heritage conservation, universal accessibility and embodied carbon reduction.