Canada: UNB Expert Appointed to Federal Climate Change Panel

Dr. Louise Comeau, director of the Environment and Sustainable Development Research Center at the University of New Brunswick, has been appointed to a federal panel examining how Canada is coping in the face of a warming planet.

With nearly three decades of experience working to mitigate and adapt to climate change, Dr. Comeau will share her broad insights and experiences from international, national and regional work, the university said in their announcement.

Dr. Comeau is interested in the long-term implications of living in a world with a changing climate, including impacts on health and well-being.

“We need a more strategic approach to preventing coastal erosion, including looking at what natural systems can do. For instance, restoring wetlands and natural infrastructure, like shrubbery to manage water flow,” said Dr. Comeau. 

“Unfortunately, in some cases, we will have to move back from the water’s edge because it is simply not a place to be for the long term for many communities.”

Ottawa’s Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Results will make recommendations on how to measure progress on federal, provincial, and territorial adaptation efforts in building Canada’s resilience to climate change. By spring 2018, it will propose a suite of indicators to measure progress on adaptation and climate resilience.