In the next few years, according to Ontario‘s Financial Accountability Office, climate change will cost an additional $1.5 billion to maintain public transportation infrastructure due to the effects of climate change.
In the next few years, the province’s financial watchdog says climate change will cost an additional $1 billion on average to maintain public transportation infrastructure due to the effects of climate change.
The Financial Accountability Office reported Thursday that climate-related costs will push infrastructure maintenance to $13 billion by 2030, from $11 billion if the climate still stabilizes over the next nine years. Based on the report, the cost of infrastructure will increase by $2.2 billion every year on average, without any climate adaptation, if global emissions peak by mid-century, regardless of climate adaptation. If emissions continue to rise beyond 2050, the cost will increase by an average of $4.1 billion per year over the long term.
FAO reports indicate that improving transportation infrastructure would offer far cheaper benefits when it is able to handle extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rains, extreme heat, and freezing and thawing cycles.
According to the report, adaptation is expected to add between $1.4 billion and $2.9 billion, on an annual basis, by the year 2100 as a result of climate change.
As per the FAO report, the roads, bridges and large structural culverts owned by the provincial and municipal governments of Ontario, the majority of which are owned by the municipal governments, are valued at more than $330 billion.