Abstracts

Fisheries and Oceans Canada Climate Change Risk Assessment Initiative

Richard Dalpé
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
dalper@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Climate change is already having major impacts on Canada's waterways and aquatic resources. As the department responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's scientific, ecological, social and economic interests in oceans and fresh water, climate change will affect Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) business and interests across its sectors and regions.

Recognizing the challenges posed by Canada's changing climate, in the fall of 2004 the department decided to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the risks to DFO associated with climate change over the next 10 to 20 years. This assessment was aimed at providing management with a structured understanding of the major climate change factors that pose risks to DFO's operations and to establish priorities in identifying appropriate risk mitigation responses.

Under the leadership of Policy Sector, a comprehensive risk assessment was conducted in consultation with representatives from all sectors and regions of DFO. This initiative consisted of five phases: planning, identification and evaluation of risk, validation, and reporting.

This presentation will provide a brief overview of the different stages of the initiative, its challenges and benefits, as well as lessons learned from this exercise.

2005-04-05