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Home / True North: Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change in Northern Canada – Table of Contents / True North – Message from the President and CEO

True North – Message from the President and CEO

Message from the President and CEO

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David McLaughlin David McLaughlin NRTEE President and CEO Canada’s North is on the frontline of climate change. Nowhere else are the effects and stakes of failing to adapt to climate change so high. An already unique and vulnerable environment faces new and different risks associated with melting sea ice, degrading permafrost, and shifting weather patterns. Securing Canada’s Arctic environment in the face of looming climate change is fast becoming a national and an international priority.
Adaptation is an essential policy response to climate change. It deals with the “here and now” to reduce the effects of carbon already in the atmosphere that are projected to cause serious climate impacts in the North in the years ahead. Infrastructure must become a core focus of Canadian adaptation policy. From buildings to roads, from airports to pipelines — infrastructure is essential to modern, secure communities. It is at risk from a changing climate and needs new, forward policy responses to make it more resilient and less vulnerable. This new study of northern infrastructure by the NRTEE offers practical solutions to do just that, as part of a focused adaptation strategy. Using risk-management tools already in place, we can make real strides to ensure northern communities and critical infrastructures are able to adjust and adapt to the stresses of climate change. We are proud to offer True North as part of Canada’s contribution to the International Polar Year.