Nunavut joins North American climate registry

Nunavut will take the first step towards keeping track of its greenhouse gas emissions — by joining the Climate Registry.

The Government of Nunavut announced Sept. 24 that the territory will join the Climate Registry, a non-profit collaboration among North American states, provinces and territories.

Nunavut is the last provincial or territorial jurisidiction in Canada to join the registry, and one of the last in North America.

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said the decision to shows Nunavut recognizes the urgency of taking common action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which are linked to global warming.

The registry sets standards, which are used calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions into a single registry.

And its members voluntarily measure, verify, and publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions.

Members first establish their emissions baseline, that is, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they produce. This is then used to document reductions under any regulatory programs.

Canada is expected to announce a mandatory reporting and reduction plan after the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen this December.

This conference should produce a new global plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientific information from the International Panel on Climate Change suggests that to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 50 to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.