International Climate Change Causes $732 – $845 Bn Annual Loss In Infrastructure Globally: CDRI Report BY OUTLOOK PLANET DESKOCTOBER 07, 2023 The report highlights that the annual investment required to address the infrastructure deficit, achieve the SDGs, achieve net zero and strengthen resilience by 2050 amounts to $9.2 trillion, of which $2.84 - $2.90 trillion must be invested in LMICs.  The global Average Annual Loss (AAL) in infrastructure sectors and buildings is now in a range of $732 – $845 billion taking into account climate change, which implies that 14% of 2021 - 2022 GDP growth is at risk, according to the biennial report on Global Infrastructure Resilience: Capturing the Resilience Dividend launched by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The report presents a compelling economic, financial and political imperative for investing in resilience, based on a new cutting-edge Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI). GIRI is the first publicly available and fully probabilistic risk model to estimate risk for infrastructure assets with respect to most major geological and climate-related hazards. Analysing 9 infrastructure sectors across 6 hazard types, the report reveals that approximately 30% of the AAL is associated with hazards like earthquakes & tsunamis, whereas 70% is associated with climate related hazards like cyclones, floods, storms etc. It also suggests that the risk is not spread equally across sectors. Low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) carry the highest relative risk with a relative AAL of between 0.31 and 0.41 % compared to 0.14 % in high income countries. The report highlights that the annual investment required to address the infrastructure deficit, achieve the SDGs, achieve net zero and strengthen resilience by 2050 amounts to $9.2 trillion, of which $2.84 - $2.90 trillion must be invested in LMICs. Kamal Kishore, member and HoD, NDMA and co-chair executive committee, CDRI said, “The report is accompanied by a tool which countries can use to do deep dive analysis to inform their decision making, inform their infrastructure investment decisions, invest in resilience, and build infrastructure systems that last long and serve generations to come.” The report emphasises on Nature-based Infrastructure Solutions (NbIS) as a novel and pragmatic approach for infrastructure resilience, along with the need to facilitate development of coherent national resilient strategies and project pipelines that effectively transform risk into resilience. The coordinating lead author of the Report, Andrew Maskrey said, “Governments can use this report to understand the risk they face, and to realise that it is critical to ensure that all future infrastructure is fully resilient. The report takes climate change into account and provides recommendations on strengthening resilience.”      https://planet.outlookindia.com/news/climate-change-causes-732-845-bn-annual-loss-in-infrastructure-globally-cdri-report-news-416065?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email  

When it comes to EV charging infrastructure, how does your province rank? Canada is going through a clean-energy transition. Some jurisdictions are more prepared than others. As Canada continues its clean-energy transition, data compiled from federal sources by CBC News shows how many fast-charging stations there are in each province compared to the number of pure-electric vehicles on the road.By 2035, 100 per cent of new cars and light trucks sold in Canada must be zero-emission vehicles under federal rules. Some experts say the number of charging stations will need to increase exponentially to meet that mandate. Looking at Canada's most-populous provinces, there are 1.88 fast-charging stalls per 100 electric vehicles in British Columbia, 2.15 in Quebec, 3.09 in Ontario and 5.11 in Alberta, according to data published by Transport Canada, which CBC is using to compare all provinces.       https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ev-infrastructure-canada-us-comparison-1.6923582                                                                                                            However, B.C. electric vehicle sales tops in North America. 13% of all new light vehicle sales in B.C. in 2021 were zero-emission vehicles — the highest rate on the continent on a per capita basisBy Darron Kloster, Times Colonist | June 2, 2022,  The province rolled new electric vehicles to the front steps of the legislature on Wednesday, ­boasting that British Columbia now leads all North America jurisdictions in zero-emission vehicle sales. George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change strategy, said 13% of all new light vehicle sales in B.C. in 2021 were zero-emission vehicles — the highest rate on the continent on a per capita basis — and first-quarter results this year show it’s increased to 17%. “We’re doubling in two short years on the rate of [EV] take-up.” said Heyman.  Despite supply chain issues that have delayed deliveries of new EVs, Heyman said: “We want to accelerate that up-take.” Heyman said the rapid adoption of electric vehicles is being noticed in the U.S., where last week in meetings with counterparts in Washington, Oregon and California, all made a point of highlighting B.C.’s lead — “even California,” said Heyman.

Blair Qualey, chief executive of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C., which also administers the province’s Clean B.C. vehicle rebate program, said despite the pandemic and supply chain issues, just over 18,000 rebate transactions were processed in 2021 — the highest in 10 years. Late last year, the Victoria EV Association said ­manufacturers were struggling to keep up with demand and it is taking three months to a year to get a new EV, although used EVs are ­available. The Clean B.C. rebate ­program offers rebates of up to $8,000 on 52 makes and models of electric vehicles. Qualey said those incentives have been the major reason for increases in sales, but also noted the commitment of provincial and local ­governments to provide more access to public charging stations and to bring awareness about the benefits of zero-emission vehicle ­ownership.  https://biv.com/article/2022/06/bc-electric-vehicle-sales-tops-north-america                 .......and.......                                EV charging stations added in B.C.; three more on Vancouver Island          Province announces $4M in rebates for electric vehicle chargers.     

   ....and..... FACTORY AND SITE-BUILT HOUSING A COMPARISON FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Prepared for: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research  The study details the regulations of unit construction for three housing sectors: approval, design review, and inspection; land development, site-work, and installation; building requirements; electrical requirements; plumbing requirements; and energy requirement. Using three approaches, the study analyzes and compares the relative costs of site-built, modular, and manufactured homes. A detailed analysis contracts the selling prices and production costs between site-built homes and HUD-Code homes. Contributing factors to variances in selling price and production cost include: • Factory production economies of scale and purchasing power of producers. • Presence or absence of land in the transaction. • Type of foundation systems. • Inclusion of design amenities such as garages and fireplaces. • Building materials used for floor, roof, and wall construction. • Regulatory systems and technical requirements for design and construction. A cost comparison of the three types of housing finds that manufactured homes are less expensive than the site-built or modular homes due to their lower square-foot production costs, even after correction for major contributing factors including land, square footage, and differences in foundation costs. Up-front costs and monthly payment estimates form the buyer's perspective under several alternative scenarios are also used in the analysis.           https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/factory.pdf

The Car Free City Manifesto........1. The first pillar of this manifesto, car free cities, requires committing to significantly moving away from private motorised vehicles, and dedicating less space to them.                                                                                                                                     2. To ensure a smooth transition, workable, extensive and affordable alternatives have to be powered up before a broad power down of car infrastructure occurs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  3.The immediate mass roll out of small steps towards car free cities will be crucial; city wide very low emission zones, prioritising road safety, shifts to zero-emission vehicles and car-lite urban design that prioritise walking, cycling and the many forms of zero emission rapid transit such as trolley buses, trams, light rail, subways and street cars.                                                                                                                                              4. Brave decisions to reallocate infrastructure dedicated to private vehicles including highways, car parks and retail malls are urgently required on a mass scale.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      5. Lock in to future options around driverless cars need to be avoided as they do not shift cities away from car culture.                                  6. Radical rezoning will need to be undertaken through a reorientation of the planning system as well as primary legislation, and a new approach to weaving together work, food, leisure and home environments in ways that directly eliminates the need for cars.                                      7. Subsidies and research grants locked up in supporting fossil fuel based private vehicles need to be rapidly withdrawn and redirected at unlocking car free urban mobility options.                                                                                                                                                            8. Coalitions of citizens and innovators need to take the lead and push the agenda to show what is possible to reduce car dependency through changes in daily mobility practices.                                                                                                                                                                                  9. Municipalities will still play a central role especially in terms of starting city owned transit systems that can avoid lock in to high value, socially uneven corporate led options.                                                                                                                                                                       10. There needs to be a focus on the wider issue of urban mobility, connectivity and sharing between multiple mobility options rather than backing single likely future winners.                                                                                                                                                                              11. Creating socially just patterns of urban mobility is essential, especially in terms of locking down historic patterns of transport injustices and creating very broad participation in the design of mobility systems.                                                                                                                        12. Shifts in advertising and marketing are required to create new values and social stimuli that downplay car culture and celebrate sustainable mobility                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   13. Given the increasingly deadly consequences of lock-in to urban car use, citizen organising of, for example, car free events, billboard subvertising or impromptu road closures will be crucial in highlighting priorities for change.                                                                              Visualized...... Carbon Pricing Initiatives in North America.,Carbon pricing mechanisms are a vital component of an effective emissions reduction strategy. But these initiatives currently cover just 15% of total North American carbon emissions. To discover which initiatives are currently contributing to this coverage, this graphic sponsored by the National Public Utilities Council maps out all of the national and subnational carbon pricing initiatives across North America using data from the World Bank.   https://www.unlockingsustainablecities.org/car-free-manifesto.html