Today, Engineers Canada and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) jointly announced that an agreement has been reached for ICLR to assume ownership of Engineers Canada’s PIEVC Program, which includes the Protocol for infrastructure climate risk and vulnerability assessment (the “Protocol”). ICLR has partnered with the Climate Risk Institute and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to operate the PIEVC Program and offer the Protocol in Canada and internationally.
Today, Engineers Canada and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) jointly announced that an agreement has been reached for ICLR to assume ownership of Engineers Canada’s PIEVC Program, which includes the Protocol for infrastructure climate risk and vulnerability assessment (the “Protocol”). ICLR has partnered with the Climate Risk Institute and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to operate the PIEVC Program and offer the Protocol in Canada and internationally.
The Protocol is a rigorous, proven process to assess current and future climate risks and vulnerabilities of civil infrastructure and buildings. It was developed and co-funded by Engineers Canada and Natural Resources Canada and has been applied to a wide variety of more than 70 infrastructure projects ranging from single buildings to complete water supply systems in large and small municipalities across Canada. The Protocol has also been used in Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Nile Basin, and Vietnam.
“Engineers Canada took the decision to divest the PIEVC Program to an entity that would ensure it continues to receive the attention and investments it needs to effectively serve private industry, Indigenous communities, and all levels of government as well as interested parties outside of Canada,” says Gerard McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Canada. “We are confident that the PIEVC Program is going to a group that recognizes the importance of climate resilience in our critical infrastructure and will ensure that the Program will thrive in the years ahead.”
“Every year, severe weather causes significant damage and disruption to property and infrastructure - both public and private - across the country and around the world,” says Paul Kovacs, Executive Director of ICLR. “As our climate continues to warm, these impacts will only become more acute, making tools such as the Protocol critical in decision-making processes to make critical infrastructure more resilient. The partnership of ICLR/CRI/GIZ will ensure that the Protocol remains the preeminent tool to ensure that both the existing and the next generation of critical infrastructure is retrofitted/built to handle the climate of the future.”
Both ICLR and CRI will partner to manage all aspects of the PIEVC Program as it is used in Canada. GIZ will manage all international uses of the Protocol.
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About Engineers Canada
Engineers Canada upholds the honour, integrity, and interests of the engineering profession by supporting consistent high standards in the regulation of engineering, encouraging the growth of the profession in Canada, and inspiring public confidence. For over 80 years, we have worked on behalf of the provincial and territorial associations that regulate engineering practice and license the country’s 300,000 members of the engineering profession. www.engineerscanada.ca
About the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
Established in 1997 by Canada’s property and casualty insurers, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at Western University in London, Canada. The International Council for Science designated the Institute as an International Centre of Excellence in integrated research on disaster risk. The Institute is also a founding member of the Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes. The Institute’s research staff are internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined research is a foundation for the Institute’s work to build communities more resilient to disasters.
About Climate Risk Institute
The mission of the Climate Risk Institute is to provide domestic and international stakeholders, decision-makers and governments with the climate services they require to build resilience to extreme weather and climate change. In collaboration with partners and clients, CRI selects and tailors climate datasets and applies analytical tools based on a strong understanding of the region, sector, and issue in question. CRI also provides interpretive services and decision-support to help identify opportunities, and prioritize options, for building climate resilience into all relevant aspects of policy, programs, strategy, planning and operations. CRI takes a strongly collaborative approach to harness the wisdom of local experience and knowledge, and the critical insights that result from well-run, interdisciplinary processes. Outcomes include greater awareness and understanding of climate change information to support decisions, and clear, defensible and measurable resilience plans.
About Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
As a service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development, GIZ is dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of the German public-benefit federal enterprise is in demand around the globe – from the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries. GIZ’s main commissioning party is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Besides its offices in Germany, almost 70 per cent of GIZ’s 20,726 employees work in approximately 120 countries. Through the German government funded project “Enhancing Climate Services for Infrastructure Investments (CSI)”, GIZ has applied PIEVC with governments and partner institutions in Brazil, Costa Rica, Vietnam and the African Nile Basin.
Media contact:
Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director, ICLR
Cell 416 277 5827
gmcgillivray@iclr.org
Shelley Ford, Communications Specialist, Engineers Canada
613 232 2474 x297
shelley.ford@engineerscanada.ca
