The annual cost of catastrophic weather disasters is rising sharply. Meanwhile, Canada and the U.S. aren’t doing enough to prepare for future disasters. In the last year we’ve seen severe storms, hurricanes, wildfires and major droughts across North America. There is little scientific doubt that this is the result of climate change. According to a recent report by the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, the costs of weather-related disasters equalled 5 to 6 percent of Canada’s annual economic growth since 2010, compared with an average of about 1 percent prior to that year. Based largely on data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, there were $14.5 billion (US$11.2 billion) of direct disaster-related costs from 2010 through 2019. This is very likely an underestimation, particularly when indirect costs are taken into account.
Unfortunately, the current coronavirus pandemic has to a large extent put the issues surrounding climate change on the back burner for the time being. Most experts would agree that, even without the pandemic, the bad news is that climate-change adaptation in Canada is far behind where it needs to be. In addition, Canada still relies heavily on the fossil fuel industry as a major driver of its resource-based economy. A number of studies have shown that the Canadian banking industry still invests heavily in the fossil fuel industry. One recent study by the Rainforest Action Network notes that in the 4 1/2 years since the Paris agreement on climate change, fossil-fuel lending has grown at five major Canadian banks. These banks provided more than $131 billion (Canadian) to oil and gas companies in 2019 alone. Even the Export Development Canada, an arm’s-length federal agency that helps Canadian industry sell its products abroad, averaged about $10 billion (Canadian) a year in support for fossil fuels exports.
CEOs at Canada’s major banks may well pay lip service to reducing the carbon intensity of their investments and their support for green technologies, but the reality is that they have continued to greatly finance the fossil fuel industry. Some have even promised to be carbon neutral by 2050, aligning themselves with Paris agreement targets. However, their financial support significantly assists in investments related to exploration, production, refining, and transportation of fossil fuels — all of which contribute to Canada’s and to global carbon emissions. Some will argue that it is the sole role of banks to make money and it is their primary responsibility to support the Canadian economy. But at what cost?
FROLITICKS 
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