Canada Must Take Steps to Address Weather Disasters, Group Says
A worker cuts down a tree on a ridge at a Western Canadian Timber Products Ltd. site near Harrison Mills, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Canada should accelerate measures to help governments, companies and individuals prepare for the rising costs of weather-related disasters, according to a research institute.
Photographer: James MacDonald/BloombergCanada should accelerate measures, including financing mechanisms, to help governments, companies and individuals prepare for the rising costs of weather-related disasters, according to a research institute.
The cost of floods, wildfires and other catastrophic events has increased sharply over the past decade. Weather-related disaster costs have equaled 5% to 6% of the country’s annual economic growth since 2010, compared with an average of about 1% prior to that year, the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices said in a report released Thursday. The information was based on data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Canadian Disaster Database.