Transcript Municipal Risk Assessment Tool

Adaptation to Climate Change
Robert Tremblay
Director, Research
Insurance Bureau of Canada
RIMS Conference
September 14, 2009 – St-John’s Newfoundland.&Labrador
Insurance industry in Canada
• Over 200 Companies
• $20 billion in claims paid
• Players:
– Primary insurers (domestic)
– Re-insurers (domestic & international)
What Canadian insurers covers…
• Homes
– Fire, theft, vandalism, wind damage,
– Sewer back-ups
• Businesses
– Business interruption
– Production means and premises
– Floods
• Liability Insurance
– Municipal
– Professional, commercial
Climate Change: Industry’s Challenge
Why?
• More severe weather more frequently
• Mid-to-long term issues of availability and
affordability of insurance
Background:
Largest insurance disasters
Source: ICLR
Canada’s costliest disasters
Event and year
Infrastructure Failure
Insured Loss
Saguenay floods (1996)
Dams
$1.5 billion
Ice Storm (1998)
Electric grid
$1.6 billion
B.C. Wild Fires (2003)
n/a
$200 million
Peterborough floods (2004)
Sewer/surface
water systems
$90 million
Toronto rains (2005)
Sewer/surface
water systems
$500 million
Contributing factor to water losses
• Municipal infrastructure performance
failures
• More basements are finished
• Value of contents much higher than before
• High density of dwellings
Water losses more important than fire
At least $1.5 billion/year in claims
• Water losses 2 sources:
– Mechanical breaks in home/building equipment
– Municipal infrastructure failures
Insurance catalyst for adaptation?
• Important to price risk properly
• Which can be the trigger for infrastructure
and adaptation behavior
Adaptation: Help municipalities
• Develop prospective Municipal Risk
Assessment Tool
– Key indicators of likelihood of infrastructure
failure
– Risk analysis of each indicator
– Future climatic models to determine how much
rain, where, and when
Risk Assessment Tool
• Builds on work done by PIEVC
• Top down vs. bottom-up
• System design vs. actual capacity
• Integrates Operational Best Practices
• Designed as a quick diagnosis not a
prescriptive solution
Need for dialogue
• Too late to bury head in sand
• Preaching to the choir…
• Assessment tool brings the need to discuss:
– Performance standards (service levels)
– “Acceptable risk”
– Need to broaden stakeholders
Need Tools
• Updated IDF curves
• Downscaled climatic maps
• Still not an excuse for inaction, need for
interim engineering guidance
Other complementary approaches
• True pricing of potable/waste water services
• Building codes
• Adapting dwellings (back flow valves)
• Reduce water run-offs
– Rain barrels
– Permeable driveways
– Low impact urban development
Conclusion
In conclusion
•
•
Moral duty to ensure Canadians protected
Mitigate damage through adaptation measures
 Communities more resilient
•
Sense of urgency