Prince Edward Island has recently completed a province-wide Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) to help the province better understand climate-related risks in PEI and develop appropriate measures to respond.
The CCRA identifies and prioritizes current and future risks related to seven specific climate hazards. The study determined that the most significant risks facing PEI result from the following climate hazards:
coastal erosion,
post-tropical storm,
heat wave, and
intense rain and flooding.
The study explored the likelihood of these hazards occurring both now and in 2050, and their consequences on health, social stability, environment, infrastructure and economic sectors. The CCRA also includes information on the unique climate risks to Indigenous communities on PEI based on interviews and reviews of existing studies.
The CCRA identified the priority risks of climate change. Risks are interconnected and will not affect all people on PEI in the same way. Climate change may also present opportunities for PEI, which should be considered alongside the negative impacts. Climate risks that PEI faces through 2050 are not fixed. The results of the CCRA are likely to change as hazards are revisited, research continues, and plans to prepare for and live with the impacts are carried out.
The CCRA will help set priorities and make decisions about how we can prepare for and adapt to climate change impacts. The CCRA identified important risks from climate change, which will require all sectors to work together. Next steps could include:
expanding on the findings where more information may be needed;
developing a province-wide adaptation plan and/or sector-specific adaptation plans;
collaborating with local (municipal) and federal adaptation approaches; and
integrating the CCRA findings into decision-making and investment planning.
Read the CCRA.
