Tracking adaptation progress in the Canadian electricity sector

This project will contribute to advance methods and metrics for adaptation monitoring and evaluation in critical infrastructure sectors.

Project details

Scientific program

Programmation 2020-2028

Theme(s) and priority(s)

Energy Security - Economy - Extreme Events - Climate Governance

Start and duration

March 2025 • March 2028

Project Status

In progress

Principal(s) investigator(s)

Alexandra Lesnikowski

Concordia University

Context

Loss and damage to critical infrastructure is one of the greatest climate change risks facing Canada. Canadian electricity companies are increasingly looking to address these impacts by strategically prioritizing and implementing adaptation responses. As adaptation is scaled up, it is essential that companies and governments can assess whether adaptation efforts are reducing business risks and improving resilience outcomes. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is a critical tool for building this analytical capacity and enhancing organizational learning around adaptation.

Objective(s)

Advance organizational and sectoral resilience of Canadian electricity utilities to climate change risks and impacts by :

Deepening our scientific understanding of how adaptation M&E contributes to adaptation governance and risk reduction
Proposing an adaptation M&E framework for use in the Canadian electricity sector that aligns with M&E best practices and emerging climate risk disclosure mandates
Advancing organizational learning around the role of adaptation M&E within organizational planning and decision-making processes.

Methodology

To achieve identified objectives, this project will:

Survey climate risk disclosure regulations and practices around the world to inform efforts at aligning risk disclosure practices in the Canadian electricity sector with global best practices.
Examine whether and how climate risk disclosure efforts contribute to improved adaptation decision-making and resilience outcomes globally.
Develop baseline information on how Canadian electricity companies are approaching adaptation M&E, particularly with regards to existing information systems and data capacity that could be leveraged to develop or enhance organizational adaptation M&E systems.
Develop and test a prototype system for adaptation M&E among Canadian electricity companies.
Identify existing or emerging methods and techniques appropriate for adaptation M&E systems in critical infrastructure sectors.
Examine how knowledge and insights gained through adaptation M&E can inform organizational and sectoral performance metrics, and discussions about risk tolerance for climate change-induces losses and damages within the electricity sector.

Expected results

This project will provide:

An analysis of motivations, evolving requirements, and impacts of climate risk disclosure on adaptation decision-making and results
A prototype adaptation M&E framework that can be adapted by organizations in critical infrastructure sectors like electricity to assess their progress on resilience-building and vulnerability reduction
An examination of how adaptation M&E can contribute to organizational learning around adaptation in light of different (and evolving) risk tolerances for climate change-induced losses and damages.

Benefits for adaptation

Contribute to a stronger scientific understanding of how climate risk disclosure rules and practices shape adaptation processes within organizations and resilience outcomes

Build the capacity of Canadian electricity companies to operationalize adaptation monitoring and evaluation

Advance methods and metrics for adaptation monitoring and evaluation in critical infrastructure sectors