The GNWT’s Departments of Environment and Climate Change and Infrastructure have shared the substantial results of their annual reports on the actions taken across the Territory in climate action for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
These reports cover between April 1st of 2022, to March 31st of 2023, and are mostly concerned with the GNWT’s climate action initiatives such as the 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework and the 2030 Energy Strategy.
As part of the Climate Change Strategic Framework was the 2019-2023 Climate Change Action Plan. For last year’s objectives, the GNWT and partners spent around $45 million on 132 different actions, all of which have either been completed, or are still ongoing. Last year also saw the release of the 2022-2025 Energy Action Plan, which contains an additional 68 actions to forward the Energy Strategy’s objectives, and is expected to cost $194 million over those three years.
Among the highlights from this annual report, it was found that models on low-carbon pathways in the NWT are expected to reach their goal of a 30% reduction in emissions by 2030. Other climate adaptation projects are being completed, such as the development of firebreaks and the reduction of fire fuel across 29 Northern communities.
Last year also saw the formation of the NWT Climate Change Youth Council, whose members have brought unique perspectives on the effects of climate change in the north from many different regions. A partnership was also established with the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and Natural Resources Canada in order to help research on coastal erosion along the Beaufort Sea and support community monitoring.
For the 2024-2025 year, the GNWT will be renewing the Climate Change Action Plan and will be moving on to a new five-year review period for the 2030 Energy Strategy. For the next five years, the 2025-2029 Climate Change Action Plan will be looking at several key factors;
- An independent review of previous action plans to help determine future goals and strategies,
- Future public engagement events and focused engagements with Indigenous governments,
- The upcoming NWT Climate Change Risk and Opportunity Assessment,
- The perspectives given by the NWT Climate Change Council and the NWT Climate Change Youth Council.
Data from 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, shows that the NWT has reduced its GHG emissions by 25% since 2005.
