Canadian Aspects of Tipping Pointsreport
The Tipping Points report was commissioned jointly by Allianz, a leading global insurance and financial service provider, and WWF, a leading global environmental NGO.
The report identifies major tipping points in the climate that would directly affect Canada’s economy, society and ecosystems which include: global sea level rise, the melting of Arctic sea ice, permafrost melting leading to major releases of greenhouse gases, and widespread dieback of the boreal forest. Of these impacts, this report quantifies the risk from global sea level rise, finding that:
- Canada is ranked 12th in the world in terms of assets at risk from sea level rise.
- A global sea level rise of 50 cm is possible by mid-century, putting an additional CDN $209 billion worth of Canadian assets at risk (i.e. Canadian assets threatened by flooding would rise from $63 billion today to $272 billion in 2050).
- Assets in the northeastern North America are at particularly high risk as a localized anomaly will likely add an additional 15 cm to global sea level increases.
- Global sea levels could rise by up to 2 metres by the end of this century.
Tipping points that would have an indirect impact on Canada include increasing aridity in the southwestern North America, Amazon rainforest dieback, and changes in the El Niño southern oscillation, Indian summer monsoon, or West African monsoon.
Quotes from WWF-Canada
“Insurance industry experts are telling us that hundreds of billions of dollars of Canadian assets are at risk, and the only sensible policy is to act now to dramatically reduce emissions,” said Keith Stewart, Director of WWF-Canada’s Climate Change Program. “The Government of Canada should take this advice and tell Canadians how we will build a clean energy economy here at home as part of a fair, ambitious and binding global climate deal.”
“No bank will give you a mortgage if you don’t have insurance, yet Canada still lacks a plan to manage the risk from dangerous climate change,” said Stewart.
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