Country Network Canada Launches Project to Study Community Impacts of Corporate Climate Adaptation

Toronto, 13 August 2024 - We are delighted to launch our new project titled “Corporate Climate Adaptation and Community Impact: An Intersectional Approach”, which will run until December 2026. Our work will focus on understanding and addressing the community impacts of corporate adaptation projects through an intersectional lens. We will be engaging with Canadian businesses across various sectors with ongoing or completed climate adaptation projects to explore how these initiatives affect local communities, particularly equity-deserving ones.

This project aims to:

1. Identify key barriers, drivers, and enablers of corporate-implemented adaptation actions that effectively help communities adapt to climate change.
2. Explore the intended and unintended outcomes of corporate-implemented adaptation actions within local communities.
3. Illuminate best practices and pitfalls for companies implementing adaptation actions when working with affected communities.

The project will take an intersectional approach, considering the impacts on groups such as racialized individuals, Indigenous peoples, LGBTIQ2S+ communities, women, lower socio-economic status individuals, and other intersecting identities. Intersectionality examines how various factors and systems of inequality create unique impacts on individuals and communities. These factors include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, economic status, age, education, language, religion, and geography. An intersectional approach recognizes that these systems can intersect to create compounded and unique lived experiences.

Why an Intersectional Approach? 

Climate change is considered a “threat multiplier”, often amplifying new and existing forms of systemic inequities, particularly those experienced by equity-deserving and vulnerable communities. As such, effective adaptation solutions must be designed with an equity lens at all stages of adaptation planning, design, implementation and monitoring, and community engagement.

Why Climate Adaptation and Communities?

“Climate adaptation solutions are crucial for creating resilience against the increasing impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events”, says Elizabeth Dove, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Canada. “While corporate mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions remain essential, adaptation efforts are equally important. Communities are often the first to experience the impacts of climate change, and there is a need for frameworks to guide companies in implementing community-based adaptation solutions through an intersectional lens.”

We will be seeking companies with ongoing or completed climate adaptation projects to participate in this initiative, with the goal of gaining private sector and industry-specific insights, increasing knowledge and skills on the subject matter, creating a network of like-minded industry peers, and co-creating relevant tools and best practices. 

Stay tuned for more details to come. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Project Manager, Wynnie Zhao (she/her) at wynnie@globalcompact.ca for more information.

About UN Global Compact Network Canada

The Canadian Network unites over 200 companies, large and small, from a wide range of sectors, all committed to embedding sustainable and ethical practices into their core strategies. This collective effort not only demonstrates leadership but also provides a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Throughout the year, the Canadian Network offers numerous engagement opportunities designed to support your company in taking decisive action and hastening the shift towards a sustainable future. Visit their website to learn more at unglobalcompact.ca. 

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