How government and innovators are building community resilience in the face of climate change

Today's guests: Michael Flynn, Global Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Government lead for Deloitte Ireland Jamie Sawchuk, national leader for Government and Public Services Alliances and Ecosystems for Deloitte Canada Carolyn Murnaghan, national leader for Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Deloitte Canada Christina Crue, emergency manager and advisory principal for Deloitte & Touche LLP Justin Dawe, founder and CEO of Earth Force Technologies

Communities across the world are feeling the effects of climate change. That's unlikely to change any time soon. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 was the hottest year on record. The National Centers for Environmental Information estimates there's a 97% chance that 2024 will break that record. The result of this warming—an increasing number of extreme weather events. The world is seeing more of these events, and they are increasing in severity. Governments, private sector innovators, and communities are working together to respond to, track, and mitigate the effects of extreme weather events. Solutions range from the tried and tested, like levees and spillways, to new and emerging technology, like AI and advanced sensing technology. To discuss these solutions, Tanya Ott is joined by Michael Flynn, Global Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Government lead for Deloitte Ireland; Jamie Sawchuk, national leader for Government and Public Services Alliances and Ecosystems for Deloitte Canada; Carolyn Murnaghan, national leader for Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Deloitte Canada; Christina Crue, emergency manager and advisory principal for Deloitte & Touche LLP; and Justin Dawe, founder and CEO of Earth Force Technologies. They discuss the challenges communities face and the potential solutions that may make a difference. Perhaps more importantly, they focus on the mindset shift that this new weather reality is bringing to communities all over the world. "Traditionally. you buy insurance for something that might happen once every 30 years," said Sawchuk. "But when it's happening once every other year, once every five years, we need to respond differently. We need to build differently. We need to plan differently. So, we're getting ahead of the risk versus just responding to the risk. And I think that's foundational. We need to mitigate the risk versus just buy insurance against it."