N.W.T. 'not saying yes or no' to adopting Canada's carbon reduction targets

The N.W.T. "isn't saying yes or no" to adopting the federal government's updated greenhouse gas reduction targets, according to Environment Minister Shane Thompson. 

"I guess the biggest challenge we face in the foreseeable future — to reach that, we need the federal government to actually provide us with more cash, whether it's for adaptation or mitigation," Thompson said during a briefing Tuesday, that coincided with the publication of the latest annual reports on climate change, energy and the carbon tax.

The federal government has committed to slashing Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 or 45 per cent by 2030, and to becoming net-zero by 2050. The N.W.T.'s current reduction goal aligns with the federal government's old one: to reduce emissions 30 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. 

In explaining why the territory hadn't boosted its commitment, Thompson said — as he has many times in the past — the N.W.T. is only responsible for 0.2 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

Although the territory's contribution to Canada's overall greenhouse gas emissions appears low, per capita emissions are well above the national average.

What the data shows

In 2019, the territory emitted 1,377 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (a measurement of the cumulative effects from various greenhouse gases) into the air. That's the same as the rounded 1.4-megatonne figure reported by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and it's twice as high as Yukon and Nunavut (which both created 0.7 megatonnes of emissions that year).

Julian Kanigan, the director of environmental stewardship and climate change for the territory's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said his department is still working with the federal government to confirm the data for 2020 which "has some complexities."

"We'll be able to release those once we have better confidence in those numbers," he said. 

Though the N.W.T. is not currently reporting its emissions data for 2020, it did say that during the 2020-21 fiscal year, its projects and initiatives reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 kilotonnes. 

The territory also said it invested $55.6 million in the last fiscal year (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021) to address climate change and hired 15 new climate change-related positions. 

Territory far from target

A reduction of 3.6 kilotonnes in a single year puts the territory far from its current goal, which would require the territory to cut emissions by more than 25 kilotonnes every year, for the next nine years. 

"The Northwest Territories must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by another further 244 kilotonnes or so by 2030 to be able to meet it's 30 per cent emissions reductions target," said Diane Archie, the territory's infrastructure minister. 

She also pointed out, however, the territory has reduced emissions from what they were in 2005 by 16 per cent, and projects in development between 2019 and 2022 would lead to a further reduction of 46 kilotonnes by 2025. 

The latest energy initiatives report, she noted, doesn't include emission reductions from the Taltson hydroelectric project (which is expected to reduce diesel fuel-related emissions by 227 kilotonnes) or from the territory's carbon tax (which is going up to $50 per tonne of emissions in 2022).

Thompson said he was "confident" the territory would reduce its emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. 

Northern challenges

The territory says its per capita greenhouse gas emissions are well above the national average because of long distances between communities, an energy-intensive resource industry and long, cold winters. 

A large part of the territory's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions lies in its energy strategy, which aims to reduce how much diesel is used in diesel-reliant communities, reduce vehicle emissions, increase renewable energy resources and increase building efficiency.

But, as the climate action plan noted, low-carbon technologies that work in southern communities don't always work well in the North because of how cold and how remote it is. Technologies that do work in the North, it said, often cost up to hundreds of dollars more per reduced tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. 

On top of that, overall emissions fluctuate heavily depending on activity and weather.

"As the industry's emissions represent half of the territorial emissions, the addition or subtraction of just one industrial development can have a significant impact on overall emissions," the report said. A cold snap, meanwhile, can impact how much fuel a community burns. 

Rising temperatures in the N.W.T.

Thompson said he would be meeting with the federal government and his counterparts across the country about the federal reduction targets on Monday, and that "frank conversations" are needed to emphasize the impact climate change has on the North. 

A press release from the territorial government notes that average surface temperatures in the N.W.T. have risen two degrees since the 1940s, which is more than twice the average increase being experienced throughout the world.

Since 1957, Inuvik's air temperature has warmed by 4.4 C, while Hay River's has warmed by 2.7 C.