Mar 2023 - Community-based adaptation approaches to sea level rise and health

As detailed in Report #1 of this series Overview of Canadian communities exposed to sea level rise, the regions of Canada projected to be most exposed to rising seas include the Atlantic coast, the mainland coast of the Beaufort Sea, the cities of Metro Vancouver and southern Vancouver Island, as well as the many Indigenous communities situated along these vulnerable coastlines. [...] Many coastal communities identified the impact of climate change on the social determinants of health, including food security due to salinization of coastal agricultural lands, and the change in habitat of marine and coastal food sources. [...] Specific actions included investing in forms of green infrastructure to reduce the impacts of sea level rise on the community as it is noted to have many co-benefits for environmental and human health.12 ● Share information and build capacity of municipal staff and/or the general public regarding sea level rise and its impacts on the community. [...] COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION APPROACHES TO SEA LEVEL RISE AND 12 HEALTH Consideration of the health impacts of sea level rise in planning for climate change in Indigenous communities Report #1 of this series identified a selection of 15 Indigenous coastal communities as highly vulnerable to sea level rise and the associated health impacts, including four communities in the Northwest Territories. [...] In one report on sea level rise impacts for Mi’kmaq communities of the Bras d’Or Lakes in Cape Breton (Nova Scotia), site assessments COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION APPROACHES TO SEA LEVEL RISE AND 15 HEALTH for each of the communities are made.23 Retreat, structural accommodation, and shoreline restoration are considered in terms of the impact on the community from a physical, economic, and sociocult.