Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction experts available for media interviews regarding new $2 billion federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund

TORONTO, March 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Disaster mitigation and climate change adaptation experts from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) are available to answer media inquiries concerning yesterday's budget announcement that the federal government will invest $2 billion in a new cost-sharing Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. The Fund will be designated for built and natural large-scale infrastructure projects to support national, provincial and municipal efforts needed to deal with the effects of a changing climate.

Part of yesterday's budget also includes the allocation of $182 million from the Green Infrastructure Fund to implement new building codes to focus on climate resilience.

ICLR has been recognized as one of only twelve International Centres of Excellence (ICoE) under the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) program sponsored by the International Council for Science. The Institute's ICoE concentrates on disaster resilient homes, buildings and public infrastructure.

Additionally, ICLR has been working to improve building codes to reduce damage caused by severe weather for close to 10 years. The Institute is one of the only groups in Canada seeking to make the next generation of new homes more resilient to severe weather through the amendment of Canada's national model and provincial building and plumbing codes.

Experts available for interview include:

Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. As a writer and commentator on insurance, reinsurance and natural disasters, Glenn's work has been widely disseminated across Canada. He has written more than 210 magazine and journal articles, publications and blogposts on a range of issues related to insurance, reinsurance, natural hazards and preparedness. He is Executive Director of ICLR's IRDR International Centre of Excellence on Disaster Resilient Homes, Buildings and Public Infrastructure.

Dan Sandink, Director of Research for the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Dan's work is largely in the area of the human dimensions of hazards, particularly the social aspects of urban flooding. At ICLR, Dan is responsible for the development of a community level disaster resilience program, which aims to increase the capacity of municipalities in Canada to mitigate natural hazard risk. He has authored and co-authored numerous reports and articles, including peer-reviewed academic journal articles, on urban flood risk, public hazard risk perceptions, disaster risk management, and climate change adaptation.

Established in 1998 by Canada's property and casualty insurers, ICLR is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at Western University in London, Canada. ICLR is a centre of excellence for disaster loss prevention research and education. ICLR's research staff is internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined research is a foundation for ICLR's work to build communities more resilient to disasters.

SOURCE Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction

Media contact: Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director, ICLR, tel. [phone], ext. 3216, cell 416-277-5827, [email protected]