Corporate Leaders Unite to Advance Understanding of Climate Adaptation and Community Resilience

As a part of its ambition to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business, the UN Global Compact Network Canada has undertaken a multi-year project to research climate adaptation initiatives involving companies and understand how they shape local communities.  The project, Corporate Climate Adaptation and Community Impact: An Intersectional Approach, is supported through Natural Resources Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP).   

The research approach is guided by an intersectional lens. Intersectionality recognizes that overlapping systems of inequality, such as race, gender, income, and geography, interact to create distinct vulnerabilities. As climate change amplifies these pressures, effective adaptation must confront both the environmental threats and the social inequities they intensify.

Corporate Partners

The UN Global Compact Network Canada is grateful for the participation of corporate partners working on innovative climate adaptation projects that support the adaptive capacities and resilience of Canadian communities.

“To create positive impact, climate adaptation initiatives need a social impact lens. This project will produce critical resources to help businesses in taking an intersectional and community-focused approach to their climate adaptation strategies. We’re excited to be partnering with Canadian businesses that are making bold and ambitious progress towards building a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future.”  — Elizabeth Dove, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network Canada

• Co-operators: Co-operators is a leading financial services co-operative that is deeply invested in helping Canadian homes and communities build resiliency and financial security. Co-operators is investing in research and developing products that enable communities to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change, and exploring the role that private capital can play in building community resilience. Co-operators, in partnership with ICLEI Canada, worked with ten Canadian municipalities on the Financing Resilient Infrastructure Project (FRIP). The goal of FRIP was to identify resilient infrastructure projects that would be a good fit for private investment and explore innovative financing options.
• Marcatus QED: Marcatus is an agri-food solutions company supporting consumer brands to develop innovative and sustainable sourcing programs and products. Marcatus is also focused on helping fight food insecurity and import reliance in Canada. Marcatus is piloting a Canadian Food Security initiative, a hydroponic container farm, aimed at addressing challenges surrounding food insecurity, disruptions in supply chains, restricted growing seasons, and the impacts of climate change. It is also working on a Healing Forest initiative, a project in collaboration with the National Healing Forests Initiative and the David Suzuki Foundation, created in the spirit of national reconciliation and healing. 
• Mejuri and Regeneration: Mejuri, an impact-focused fine jewelry brand, has partnered with Regeneration, a public benefit corporation focused on the responsible sourcing of minerals and habitat restoration, on a ground-breaking regenerative mining initiative. The Salmon Gold initiative re-mines gold from old mining sites and restores the natural habitat for salmon and other species. The restoration work is done in collaboration with local miners, Indigenous communities, government agencies, and restoration experts. The re-mined gold is being used in Mejuri’s Salmon Gold Capsule Collection, the world’s first jewelry collection made from gold 100% sourced from old mine sites where waste and previously disturbed land is re-mined and restored.
• WSP Canada: WSP is one of the world’s leading professional services firms, uniting its engineering, advisory and science-based expertise to shape communities to advance humanity. From local beginnings to a globe-spanning presence today, WSP operates in over 50 countries and employs approximately 73,000 professionals, known as Visioneers. WSP in Canada’s team of close than 13,000 professionals pioneer solutions and deliver innovative projects across the Transportation and Infrastructure, Earth and Environment, Property and Buildings, and Energy, Resources and Industry sectors.

The role of the private sector in creating equitable and inclusive climate adaptation solutions

Climate adaptation solutions build the capacity of systems and communities to withstand escalating climate impacts, such as extreme weather events. While cutting emissions remains essential, the private sector must also invest in adaptation solutions, as many climate-related effects are now significant and irreversible. Yet, there is limited literature, little guidance, and few robust frameworks widely available to support companies on community-based, equity-focused adaptation. Through this collaboration, UN Global Compact Network Canada will capture best practices and lessons learned and translate them into open-source tools that help businesses of every size accelerate equitable, community-centred climate adaptation.

 “Targeted investments in practical and inclusive climate adaptation actions directly benefit the communities most affected by climate change. The UN Global Compact Network’s project, funded through NRCan’s Climate Change Adaptation Program, will work with businesses to enhance the climate resilience of communities across Canada.”  — The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

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