Protecting communities from escalating climate risks depends on timely evidence reaching the people responsible for financial oversight, infrastructure planning, and emergency management. Through the pilot round of its Policy Spark Research Grants program, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) has invested $120,000 in six rapid-response climate research projects designed to deliver concise, actionable analysis directly to decision makers.

The projects each address interconnected drivers of economic and community vulnerability, including lack of wildfire preparedness, disaster misinformation, insurance gaps affecting First Nations, and financial system risks. By focusing on short-term research that produces targeted advice, the program strengthens the link between academic expertise at PICS network universities (UBC, UVic, SFU and UNBC) and practical action.

The successful projects are:

Theme 1: Climate Finance, Disclosure, and Investment Readiness

• Mobilizing Private Capital for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure, led by Dr. Carol Liao at the University of British Columbia (UBC), is examining how British Columbia can strengthen climate disclosure, fiduciary duties, and sustainable finance taxonomies by learning from Québec’s mandatory disclosure regime.
• Closing Gaps in Climate Disclosure Across B.C.’s Financial and Infrastructure Sectors, led by Dr. Milind Kandlikar of UBC, is identifying disclosure gaps between international standards, federal requirements, and B.C. sector-specific disclosure rules.

Theme 2: Wildfire Risk, Behaviour, and Public Communication

• Improving Household Wildfire Mitigation Through Risk Communication, led by Dr. Luba Petersen of Simon Fraser University (SFU), is identifying barriers to wildfire mitigation among homeowners and renters, and testing which communication strategies most effectively encourage action.
• Countering Misinformation in Climate Adaptation and Disaster Response, led by Dr. Heidi Tworek of UBC, is examining how misinformation harms local climate adaptation and disaster response in B.C.

Theme 3: Equity, Insurance, and Indigenous Economic Exposure

• Wildfire Risk and Insurance across First Nations jurisdictions, led by Dr. Onyx Sloan Morgan and Lola Melchior of UBC Okanagan, is examining how insurance mechanisms and policy frameworks differ across reserve lands encompassed by the First Nations Land Management Act (FNLMA) and Framework FNLMA.
• Quantifying Climate-Driven Insurance Losses and Housing Adaptation, led by Dr. Felix Pretis of the University of Victoria, is quantifying how heat and precipitation extremes drive residential insurance claims and assessing whether housing has adapted over time.

Policy Spark Grants translate B.C.’s academic expertise into practical tools that give B.C. governments, businesses, and practitioners the specific evidence and actionable guidance they need to make informed, timely decisions focused on protecting communities and livelihoods.