OTTAWA (November 22, 2017) – Today, the Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) released its Climate Adaptation Guide to help electricity companies define, design, develop and successfully deploy practical and effective adaptation plans.
“The long-term climate change trend is clear. High impact climate events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity,” said Sergio Marchi, CEA’s President and CEO. “CEA is pleased to provide this essential tool to help our members effectively anticipate, plan for, and respond to climate-related risks and vulnerabilities. This will help mitigate the potentially devastating economic and human impact on Canadians and our standard of living.”
The need for proactive climate change risk management is a business imperative for Canadian electricity companies. CEA has therefore taken the lead on the development of a guide to provide consistency and guidance for its members as they develop their adaptation plans. CEA’s Climate Adaptation Guide takes an approach which is similar to the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) guidance standards, by providing a framework that allows users to flesh out the details in a company-specific manner. It outlines a strategic, risk-based framework that can be readily incorporated into existing enterprise risk management (ERM) processes. In the absence of ERM processes, it supports the creation of an adaptation-management process.
“Planned adaptation can result in lower costs and is often more effective than reactive adaptation,” said Channa S. Perera, CEA’s Director of Generation, Sustainability & Indigenous Affairs. “Proactive adaptation measures help direct strategic resource allocation and avoid costly future repairs or replacements.”
CEA’s guide is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject of climate change adaptation, but is meant to provide an outline of management characteristics. It is also not intended to be prescriptive but aims to stimulate critical thinking. CEA recognizes the fact that each electricity company’s appetite for risk(s) is unique and that management strategies will vary accordingly.
Click here for more information on CEA’s Climate Adaption Guide.