The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) welcomes the release of Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy: Building Resilient Communities and a Strong Economy, emphasizing the urgency of the climate crisis and its profound impacts on the natural environment, communities, and human health, well-being, and livelihood.
As a highly complex challenge requiring increasing levels of coordination and cooperation, it is important that the planning profession, and in particular land-use planning, is recognized as a critical component for advancing climate adaptation strategies.
CIP and its members have been actively engaged in climate action through advocacy and the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies for decades, advancing equitable solutions at all levels of government and civil society. As a result of these efforts, and the underlying values of the profession, planners are well-positioned to meet the specific workforce target established in the National Adaptation Strategy that 75% of the planning professionals have the “capacity to apply climate change adaptation tools and information”, as well as the ability to communicate the justification for adaptation measures.
As the national organization of professional planning with a vision for inclusive and vibrant communities, respectfully connected to the natural world, for the well-being of current and future generations, CIP is encouraged to see a strategy that emphasizes both the climate and equity concerns facing our planet and society. The National Adaptation Strategy’s desire to create “solutions that are fair, inclusive, and equitable, so that everyone can share in the benefits,” also speaks to the holistic understanding of how we must tackle the interconnected and wicked problems we face.
CIP commends the Government of Canada on its National Adaptation Strategy, recognizing the value that it adds to accelerating sustainable solutions across the country,” stated CIP President, Dan Huang, RPP, MCIP. “Complex issues require high degrees of collaboration, and planners are in a unique position to bring together elected officials, citizens, and allied professions in an integrated approach that will help build momentum for the national strategy and meaningfully contribute to climate stability.”
CIP looks forward to partnering with the federal government and those joining alongside to bring about a better future for us all.
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